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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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No. 1. RESISTANT WRIST WORK. THE FIRST LESSON IN " JIU-JITSU." 



Physical Training 
for Children 

By Japanese Methods 

A Manual for use in Schools and at Home 



BY 



H. Irving Hancock 

Author of "I,ife at West Point," "Japanese Physical Training," 
" Physical Training for Women by Japanese Methods," etc. 



Illustrated from photographs by 
A. B. Phelan 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 
XLbc ftnickerbocker ipces6 

1904 



Gv 4 7^ 
U 7n 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDles Received 
MAY ]6 1904 
Ceovrlorht Ent^r 
/UcM>i fn_^<^P•f' 
CLASsO O-XXo. No. 

% 1. 
OPY B 



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Copyright, 1904 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



Published, May, 1904 



Ube ftnicberbocftec press, Dew Sork 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGB 

Why Physical Exercise is Needed if One is to be Healthy 
— The Japanese System of Training the Body — 
What is Meant by "Resistant Muscle" Work — 
The First Feats to Undertake . . . . i 

CHAPTER II. 

The " Struggle " in its Varied Forms . . . .16 

CHAPTER III. 

The Need of Light Exercise in Alternation with the 

Heavier — Sample Work of the Lighter Kind . . 31 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Pole Work 47 

CHAPTER V. 
Tug-of-War Drills 62 

CHAPTER VI. 

Strengthening the Back 77 

iii 



iv Contents 

CHAPTER VII. 

Deep Breathing, Food, Bathing, and Clothing— How 
Alcohol and Tobacco Ruin the Health and Spoil 



the Athlete 



PAGB 



92 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Feats for Rapidly Strengthening the Whole Body of the 

Advanced Student io8 

CHAPTER IX. 

More about Resistance of Muscles — Exercises that Em- 
ploy it to the Utmost — Summer Out-Door Sports . 123 

CHAPTER X. 

Muscle-Bound American Athletes — Mistakes that the 

Japanese Avoid — Last Words to Pupils . . .141 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

Resistant Wrist Work, the First Lesson in " Jiu- 
JlTSU "...... Frontispiece 

Hooked Elbows, Resistant — " Travel " and 

"Pivot" lo 

Back Hold for Resistant Bending ... 12 / 

A "Struggle" with Opposing Hands Clasped . 18 ■ 

The Back-to-Back Struggle . . . . . 22 * 
Pushing the Victim Back with Right or Left 

Hands Clasped 24 ^' 

The Position for Resistant Side-Swaying . . 26 

Overhead Pole Work. The Finish of the Feat 48 

Travelling and Pivoting with the Pole . . 50 ' 

Single-Hand Pole Work Overhead ... 52 " 

The Bending Travel and Pivot with the Pole 54 
Forcing the Pole, Held Obliquely, until Lower 

End Touches the Floor 56 

The First Form of Tug-of-War with the Pole 62 

Tug-of-War with Right Hands Clasped . . 64 ' 
Tug-of-War with Hands Clasped over the As- 
sailant's Shoulder . . , . . . .70 
This exercise is a rapid muscle-maker. 
V 



vi Illustrations 

PAGE 

The Hold Back of the Head, the Victim being 
Forced over Forward 82 

Lifting One Contestant from a Kneeling to an 
Erect Position — the Start .... 100 

The Throat-Hold Throw-Off . . . .102 
An excellent exercise and a handy trick in self-de- 
fence. 

Bending the Victim's Wrist Outward and over 

AS FAR as it will GO IO4 

An exercise that makes for strong arms and inci- 
dentally hardens many muscles. 

An Advanced Form of Resistant Wrist Work . io6 
Employing many muscles of the body, especially of 
the abdomen and lower back. 

Back Bending with Resistance when the For- 
ward Drag is Attempted — the Start . . io8 

Back Bending with Pupils Side by Side and 
Hands Clasped Overhead no 

Strenuous Work for Developing Shoulder, Back, 
and Abdominal Muscles 112 

Resistant Feat that Employs Every Important 
Muscle in the Body 114 

Attack on Throat and Chest — Strong Resistant 
Work 116 

Neck and Back Movement Calling for Much Re- 
sistance ....,,.,. 118 



Illustrations vii 

PAGE 

Forcing the Victim to one Knee, and then, after 

Rising, to the Other Knee . . . .120 

Twisting Each Other's Wrists Outward and In- 
ward 126 

There are three excellent forms of this exercise. 

Resistant Neck Work . . . . . . 128 

A Difficult Shoulder-to-Shoulder Struggle . 130 

Travelling and Pivoting with the Neck-Hold , 132 

The Acme of " Jiu-Jitsu" Muscle-Making — Bend- 
ing with the Pole 134 



INTRODUCTION 

These few pages are addressed directly to 
those who have in charge the physical training 
of children, and it is urged that the subject 
matter be read through to the pupils them- 
selves. Yet it has been the aim of the author 
to make the contents of this volume so plain 
and simple that the boy or girl of reasoning 
years will find it possible to instruct himself or 
herself and a companion. 

Why should the Japanese physical training 
system., jm-jitsu, be taught to our young peo- 
ple? The answer is a ready one, and easy of 
comprehension by one who has had even the 
most ordinary opportunities for witnessing the 
feats of strength and endurance of Japanese 
athletes. Travellers have brought us, from 
time to time, wonderful tales — and none of 
them exaggerated — of the strange and marvel- 
lous system of gymnastics in vogue among the 



X Introduction 

people of Japan. Some eight years ago the 
author began his study of jiu-jitsu under 
the guidance of Japanese friends in this coun- 
try. Afterwards, in Japan, he studied under 
such famous adepts as Matsuda, Yako, and 
Inouye — a redoubtable triumvirate of muscle- 
trainers. Upon his return from Japan the 
author went again under Inouye's tutelage 
when that master came to this country for a 
while to lecture and to teach. 

Six weeks of instruction the preliminary 
strength-producing training of jiu-jitsu will 
yield better results in muscle, endurance, and 
agility than will the same amount of time per 
week spent in a gymnasium throughout a 
whole school year. And the same six weeks 
of drilling va jiu-jitsu exercises will accomplish 
more than may be looked for from years spent 
at the light calisthenics taught in many of our 
schools. 

If this should seem to be an extravagant 
claim, let us examine some facts of very recent 
history. In Japan every soldier, sailor, and 
policeman is obliged to take the government 
course vcv jiu-jitsu. When the allied armies of 



Introduction xi 

the civilised powers marched against Pekin in 
the summer of 1900 it was discovered that the 
soldiers of our regular army were second 
among all the troops in point of endurance in 
the field. But the Japanese were first, and 
proved their ability, day after day, to out- 
march our troops by fifty per cent. Through 
the earlier weeks of hostilities with Russia, in 
this year, Japanese troops marched twenty- 
five miles a day through the most bitter 
weather. Under the same circumstances our 
soldiers would consider fifteen miles a day a 
satisfactory average. Ks jiu-jitsu is the only 
physical training that the Japanese soldier re- 
ceives it is evident that it is this system which 
gives him the greatest endurance to be found 
in the world. 

The course laid down in this volume is in- 
tended to take up a school year. The feats 
should all of them be mastered thoroughly in 
less time than that, but it is advantageous to 
have considerable time to spend in reviewing 
the work. The amount of time spent in phy- 
sical training during the week varies greatly in 
the schools. It is well worth the while to give 



xii Introduction 

from twenty minutes to a half an hour daily, 
but where this is impossible it is advised to 
give at least twenty minutes a day on three 
days in the week. This amount of time spent 
in instruction can be made to sufifice if the 
pupils can be persuaded to practise out of 
school hours. And much can be done in the 
way of urging the young people to try the 
feats in recess time. 

Necessarily many of the feats described can- 
not be performed in the aisles between the 
desks. But this need be no bar to thorough 
training \njm-jitsu. Nearly every large school 
building has a hall in which graduating exer- 
cises and other exhibitions are given. This 
hall can be used by the class when training. 
School buildings of any size have basements 
that are used as indoor playgrounds in stormy 
weather, and here the exercises may be taught. 
There is plenty of space also in the broad cor- 
ridors. Best of all, in the milder weather — 
that is, in September and October and in May 
and June, the young people can be marched 
into the school yard and there drilled to the 
best advantage of all in the purer out-door air. 



Introduction xiii 

The especial attention of the physical in- 
structor or class teacher is directed to Chapter 
III., in which are given several forms of exer- 
cises that will be found of great value to child- 
ren who are too weakly to enter at once into 
the more rigorous exercises taken up by their 
stronger schoolmates. Chapters VII. and X. 
are intended by way of brief lectures for occa- 
sional reading to the class. 

As soon as one set of exercises has been 
mastered, and a new set taken up, it is not in- 
tended that the old feats be abandoned. On 
the contrary, in each practice bout some of the 
old movements should be taken up along with 
the new, giving a continuous review of all the 
work that has been mastered. It is suggested 
that the instructor will find it an excellent idea 
to number each of the drills in the order in 
which they are described. A marginal note 
stating the average amount of time required 
for a movement will be of great assistance in 
making a selection of the old exercises that 
are to be taken up with the new. 

There are no separate exercises for boys or 
girls. Both boys and girls have posed for the 



xiv Introduction 

illustrations published herewith, but this was 
done merely in order to lend greater interest 
to the depiction of the work. 

It is highly undesirable that the jiu-jitsu 
training should be dropped from the school 
course after one year of drilling. On the con- 
trary, it should be kept up as long as the boy 
or girl remains at school, should be carried 
into the college or university, and then onward 
throughout life. But, after the first year of 
training, the student has the advantage of 
understanding the system, and of being able 
to skip about among the exercises as his in- 
clination and his own bodily needs suggest. 

Since it is likely that the t^rra jiu-jitsu will 
be heard more and more in this country as 
time goes on, a hint is offered as to its pro- 
nunciation. It is natural to say "joo-jitsoo," 
but the Japanese call it jew'-jitss. The accent 
is on the first syllable. The double "s" is 
given with a slight hissing sound, and the final 
*'u" is not expressed at all. 

H. Irving Hancock. 

New York, April 9, 1904. 



PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR 

CHILDREN 
BY JAPANESE METHODS 



PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR 

CHILDREN 
BY JAPANESE METHODS 



CHAPTER I 

WHY PHYSICAL EXERCISE IS NEEDED IF ONE 
IS TO BE HEALTHY — THE JAPANESE SYS- 
TEM OF TRAINING THE BODY — WHAT IS 
MEANT BY "RESISTANT MUSCLE" WORK 
— THE FIRST FEATS TO UNDERTAKE 

Why should it be necessary for one to take 
physical exercises? Why should health and 
happiness depend upon doing this? If one 
does not care to train the muscles of his body 
why should he be expected to do it, and why 
should he suffer through not doing it? 

The answer to these questions may be stated 
very simply. 

I 



2 Physical Training for Children 

While the needs of the body are many, the 
most important requirements of health — given 
here in their order — are air, water, food, 
and exercise. A human being cannot live 
more than a few minutes when air is denied 
him. He can live for a few days without 
water, and for a considerably longer period 
without food. In a mild enough climate he 
can live without clothing or shelter. It is 
possible, also, to live without physical ex- 
ercise, but, in this case, the human being does 
not act wisely. 

Training of all of the parts of the body is 
not merely advisable ; it is necessary if the 
human being is to bring his body to the highest 
state of health. Just as air, water, and food 
are needed to keep the life in the body, so is 
exercise of the parts of the body. 

It is the mission of the stomach to prepare 
the nourishment in food for the making of new 
blood. In the lungs this blood is purified by 
breathing in air, the oxygen in which burns 
out the waste material of blood. Then the 
heart is required to pump the purified blood 
through the body. This process is called the 



The First Feats to Undertake 3 

circulation of the blood. What good does 
the circulation of the blood accomplish? The 
answer is that every portion of the body is 
undergoing decay at every moment in life. 
The nourishment that the blood, vitalised by 
the stomach and the lungs, and pumped 
through the system by the heart, carries to 
every minutest part of the body, gives the 
force that enables the human, or lower, animal 
to remain alive. 

The basis of life is the cell. This is the 
most minute part of animal organism. The 
cell forms tissue, the tissue forms fibre, and, 
from the start with the cell, the muscles, 
nerves, skin, hair, nails, bones, teeth, and all 
of the other parts of the body are formed and 
are kept alive. 

It is the circulation of the blood, rich in 
nourishment, that accomplishes all of this con- 
tinual building up of the body. Then what 
part does physical exercise play? 

Muscular exertion of the right sort, and in 
not too excessive amount, forces the lungs to 
take in deep breaths of air. It will be noted, 
after examining the veins of the body — the 



4 Physical Training for Children 

channels through which the blood returns to 
the lungs — that the veins show a bluish tint. 
This is because the blood flowing through the 
veins is impure. When this blood is returned 
to the lungs air is gulped in, and the oxy- 
gen that is in the air burns out the impur- 
ities. The blood, purified by oxygen, and 
enriched by the nourishment that has been 
prepared by the stomach, is sent again through 
the body in order that it may replace more 
cell-decay. 

The proper exercise of the body is needed 
in order to give the muscles of the stomach 
strength enough to enable them to perform 
their offices in digesting food and providing 
the blood with the nutriment, or repair ma- 
terial, that it must carry through the system, 
and to enable the digestive glands to perform 
their proper offices. The deep breathing that 
should accompany all muscular work is needed 
for the purpose of purifying the blood that is 
to be sent back to repair all waste tissue in the 
body. 

The heart is a great mass of muscles. The 
heart never stops its work until life ceases. 



The First Feats to Undertake 5 

When an organ is composed of so many mus- 
cles they should receive constant training. 
Yet, just as one should not exercise until he 
has made his back or shoulder muscles lame, 
so one should not give the heart more exertion 
than it can endure without discomfort. 

Exercise, then — always with deep breathing 
— accomplishes these results : It gives exercise 
to the heart, the most enduring and serviceable 
organ of the body ; it supplies the lungs with 
the pure air that is for burning out the waste 
— dead — material that is in the blood. Exer- 
cise of the body also strengthens the muscles 
and the digestive apparatus of the stomach, 
and enables that organ to perform its functions 
with greater effect. 

At the same time, the strain upon other 
muscles increases their power. Even the 
slightest form of bodily exertion turns some 
material into waste. This waste is consumed 
by the oxygen that goes through the body 
with the blood. The oxygen burns, and the 
blood supplies the repair. When exercise is 
not carried to too great an extent the result is 
that it kills dying cells of the body and replaces 



6 Physical Training for Children 

them with new ones. Thus the vitality of the 
body is increased. There is new life in the 
place of that which was passing. 

From this it will be understood that any use 
of the muscles induces waste of the dying ma- 
terial in them, and that the re-vitalised blood 
supplies new and better material. For this 
reason every proper exercise makes the muscles 
increase in their power. Every time that 
muscles are used more than they should be it 
means that these muscles have been over- 
worked, and that the processes of decay and 
repair have been used to excess. Overworked 
muscles do not promote health. When lame 
or stiff muscles result from exertion it is a cer- 
tain sign that too severe work has been per- 
formed. In other words, the muscles have 
been abused. 

Most pupils of ordinary strength are inclined 
to be guilty of over-exertion when performing 
gymnastic work. The danger signals are 
easily discernible. If there is palpitation or 
shortness of breath it is an indication that 
heart and lungs are being overworked. If 
there is lameness or stiffness of any of the 



The First Feats to Undertake 7 

muscles it must be understood that those 
muscles have been overtaxed. Any form of 
physical work that has been carried to the 
point where it causes palpitation, shortness of 
breath, or uncomfortable muscular feeling is 
to be used afterwards in a less degree. Some- 
times it is advisable to drop a certain exercise 
for days. No pupil who feels bodily distress 
should hesitate to drop out of the class. Such 
action is not to be regarded as a confession 
of weakness, but rather as an indication of 
common-sense. 

At least twenty-five hundred years ago the 
Japanese practised a system of physical exer- 
cise known as jiu-jitsu. At that time, and 
until very recently, the art of jiujitsu was 
known only to a privileged class of men in 
Japan. They were known as the samurai. 
They held a position corresponding to that of 
the knights of Europe in the Middle Ages. 
The samurai alone were permitted to fight, 
the men who were not of this noble rank being 
allowed to accompany an army only as carriers 
of burdens. As the samurai were not always 
employed in war, and as they could not engage 



8 Physical Training for Children 

in any business, much attention was devoted 
to the feats of physical training that would 
make them more efficient in battle. And so 
the art oi jiu-jitsu happened to be invented, 
and was passed down to the samurai through 
century after century. The women of the 
samurai class took up the work also, so that 
no Japanese man could expect to be stronger 
than the woman of his own rank, unless he 
happened to be larger than she. 

The essential principle in this Japanese sys- 
tem of physical training is to be found in what 
may be called the "resistance of muscles." In 
most of the exercises it is necessary for two 
pupils to work together. The pressure of one 
pupil's muscles must be resisted by the use of 
similar muscles in the other pupil's body. 

In this volume, for the sake of convenience, 
one pupil will be designated often as the "as- 
sailant" and the other as the "victim." It 
should be understood that when the assailant 
is stronger he should not force the victim to a 
victory that will be too rapid. Nor should the 
victim employ strength enough to make the 
assailant's victory impossible. The assailant 



The First Feats to Undertake 9 

should employ just enough strength to force 
the victim slowly to defeat ; the victim should 
employ just enough strength to make victory 
difficult. 

The simplest form of resistant work is to be 
had when two pupils stand, facing in opposite 
directions, at each other's right sides. The 
arms are extended slightly, but with the 
clenched fists just below the waist-line. The 
right wrists of the two are crossed at the inside 
of the arm. The arms should be held as 
rigidly as is possible. Then the command is 
given : 

"Travel!" 

At the word of command the pupil who has 
been chosen as aggressor should walk slowly 
around his victim, applying all the strength in 
the wrist to the task of swinging the victim 
around. The victim stands with his heels to- 
gether. He pivots on his heels as he is forced 
around, but does not allow the heels to become 
separated. The victim does no walking, con- 
fining himself to swinging upon his touching 
heels as he is made to move around. The 
arms should be kept straight and rigid while 



lo Physical Training for Children 

the exercise continues. At the end of the 
exercise, and when both pupils have taken 
deep breaths, they should cross the wrists not 
employed before, and should swing around as 
before, the one who was lately the victim 
becoming now the aggressor. 

No matter how far the pupil has advanced, 
this resistant wrist work should be undertaken 
at the beginning of every practice bout. Each 
pupil should be, in turn, aggressor and victim, 
with the wrists of both hands opposed in turn 
— right against right and left against left. The 
one who is selected as aggressor should be 
allowed to swing his victim around, but with 
great difficulty. 

The exercise, just as it should be started, is 
shown accurately in photograph number one. 

The next exercise that is to be undertaken is 
where two pupils stand at each other's right 
(or left) sides. They face in opposite direc- 
tions. If at the right sides, the pupils "hook" 
each other's arms at the elbows, as is shown in 
photograph number two. At the command 
"Travel! " the one who has been selected as 
the aggressor walks slowly around the victim. 




No, 2. HOOKED ELBOWS, RESISTANT — "TRAVEL" AND "PIVOT." 



The First Feats to Undertake 1 1 

forcing the latter to turn. All the while the 
victim pivots on his toes. The victim yields 
gradually ; he must give enough resistance, 
but must not defeat the assailant. 

The number of times that the victim may be 
turned around will depend upon the strength 
of the average contestant. When the instruc- 
tor is satisfied he gives the command ' ' Halt ! ' ' 
Then the pupils take several deep breaths. 
At the command "Resume!" the pupils 
hook elbows again. This time they use the 
arms not employed in the first performance 
of the feat. Thus, if right elbows were hooked 
the first time, the left elbows are used the 
second time. The work is to be performed with 
as much resistance as the victim is capable of; 
but the aggressor, if much stronger, should not 
employ more force than is needed for victory. 

Each pupil, in a practice bout, should em- 
ploy both arms in "travelling" and in "pivot- 
ing." This will give four bouts in all, and 
this one form of exercise will take up much of 
the instruction time given in one day's lesson. 
Between each attack the pupils are expected 
to. breathe heavily and deeply. 



12 Physical Training for Children 

Next in order simple holds are to be con- 
sidered, along with simple swaying movements. 
Photograph number three shows one of the 
back or side holds, but it affords an accurate 
idea of all of the work of this nature. The 
two pupils stand either at each other's right or 
left sides, and facing each other. The assail- 
ant clasps his hand over the victim's side that 
is farther from him. The clasped hands should 
rest at the waist-line. Now the victim bends 
over as far as is possible to the side on which 
the aggressor's hands are clasped. At this 
point the assailant does little more than to 
support the bending victim. 

When the victim has bent over as far as may 
be, against the rather slight resistance of the 
aggressor, the command "Up! " is given, and 
the victim tries to resist being pulled to erect 
position. Both strength and weight should be 
employed in this resistance on the part of the 
victim. If the work is done properly, under 
the eye of a careful instructor, aggressor and 
victim will share about equally in the benefit 
to be derived from this form of exertion. In 
this exercise rapidity of movement will defeat 




No. 3. BACK-HOLD FOR RESISTANT BENDING. 



The First Feats to Undertake 13 

the result that is desired. The bend should 
be a slow one, with but little difference in the 
amount of resistance between the pupils. The 
assailant should let the victim over very 
slowly, and with straining of muscles on the 
part of each. The victim should not allow the 
aggressor to pull him up to standing position 
without considerable effort. 

Now, it will be well, after deep breathing of 
course, for the two to change places, and the 
victim becomes assailant. It is well also to 
change sides. Thus, if the victim in the 
former case was allowed to go over to the right 
side, on the second attempt the new victim 
should be allowed to go over to the left. 

After a study of the foregoing descriptions 
it will not be difficult to understand how the 
holds for backward and forward bendings are 
to be employed. With the backward hold the 
victim is clasped around the waist, the assail- 
ant holding his fingers interlaced at the small 
of the victim's back. The victim bends 
backward as far as he can without losing his 
balance. The aggressor resists as much as 
is needed. At the command "Up!" the 



14 Physical Training for Children 

assailant tries to bring his companion to erect 
position, the victim resisting with muscle and 
weight. 

Another form of this work is to be found 
when the two pupils stand facing in the same 
direction, but with one directly back of the 
other. The one at the rear, who is to act as 
the assailant, throws his arms around the vic- 
tim and clasps his hands in front of the latter's 
abdomen. From an erect position the victim 
should bend slightly backward without resist- 
ance. When this position has been taken the 
victim begins to bend forward, the assailant 
employing resistance enough to make the 
motion difficult. But the assailant, no matter 
how strong, must take care not to defeat the 
victim. When the latter has bent forward as 
far as he can go the assailant should bring the 
victim back and over to a bend backward, the 
victim resisting with strength and the use of 
his weight. 

At all times, in all of these exercises, the 
pupil must remember the need of slow, resistant 
work. There must be no hurry, nor can there 
be any lazy use of the muscles. Every muscle 



The First Feats to Undertake 15 

employed must be used with considerable 
strength, the only care taken being that the 
stronger student does not make victory impos- 
sible for the weaker. When this caution is 
observed the weaker pupil has a good chance 
of bringing his muscular development gradually 
up to the standard of strength possessed by his 
opponent. 

Where private schools or gymnasiums are 
equipped with baths it is well for the student, 
very soon after the end of the lesson, to go to 
the shower or the swimming pool. The bath 
following exercise should be a cold one. It is 
best, first of all, to take a rapid sponging under 
the shower. This should be followed by a 
plunge and a short swim. After that drying, 
through the means of brisk towelling, is in 
order. Not all young people can endure the 
shock of the cold bath. In that case the bath 
will have to be of the temperature demanded 
by the condition of the individual student. 

When exercise is repeated at home by public- 
school pupils the bath, in one form or another, 
is always possible, and parents should enforce 
its use. 



CHAPTER II 

THE "struggle" IN ITS VARIED FORMS 

Nothing gives more zest to school-room or 
gymnasium work than does the form of exer- 
cise named in the heading of this chapter. It 
is a kind of work, too, that makes quickly 
for strength. In one form or another the 
struggle should be employed in every lesson 
in gymnastics. 

Briefly explained, the struggle is a form of 
work that exercises every important muscle 
from the top of the neck down to the feet. 
When properly done this style of exertion will 
exercise the entire body with the exception of 
the head. The basic principle is that the 
student exerts all of his bodily strength and 
the full force of his weight against his oppon- 
ent. Of course this general statement must be 
modified by the warning that, if there be 
much difference in the strength of the contest- 
i6 



The "Struggle" 17 

ants, the stronger must not employ his fullest 
powers, but must make the weaker companion 
work. It is permissible for the stronger pupil, 
when the aggressor, to use all, or nearly all, of 
his strength. When the weaker pupil is the 
assailant, the stronger must use just enough 
strength to make victory hard of attainment. 

The simplest form of the struggle is found 
when two pupils face each other with arms 
outstretched sideways, the hands on a level 
with the shoulders. Now, let the two pupils 
clasp hands, interlacing fingers with each 
other's. Next, each step backward, so that 
the bodies slant against each other. The 
chests should touch so that the heart of one 
pupil is pressed against that of the other, while 
the head of one is at the side of the other's 
head. 

Now spread the feet as far apart as they will 
go. The next step is for the one who has 
been designated as assailant to push the victim 
across the floor. The contest should be a 
stubborn one, the power employed to be 
limited only by the strength of the weaker 
contestant. Of course, the assailant, when 



1 8 Physical Training for Children 

stronger, should not exert undue pressure, and 
when the victim is the stronger the victory 
should be allowed through gradual yielding. 
When the struggle has been carried across the 
room there should be a pause for deep breath- 
ing. Then assailant and victim should change 
places and repeat the exercise. 

When the struggle is done with intensity, 
and victory is difficult, there is a tendency to 
get in closer touch and to press the abdomens 
together. This should be forbidden at all 
times. There is another tendency — to get 
one's feet too close together. The watchful 
instructor will prohibit this also. Nearly all of 
the benefit that is to be derived from the work 
will come through a close observance of the 
directions just given, and the careful instructor 
in physical training will watch every detail of 
performance. 

As children have much animal matter and a 
minimum of lime in their bones they are able 
to derive benefit from other forms of the 
struggle that could not be employed as well 
by older people. For children a very interest- 
ing and valuable form of the work is shown in 



The '^ Struggle " 19 

photograph number four. Here the pupils 
face each other and bend slightly forward. 
The opposing hands of the contestants are 
clasped, with the fingers interlaced. At the 
start the hands should be on a level with the 
waist-line, or slightly above. At the com- 
mand "Start!" the pupil who has been 
chosen as aggressor should push the victim 
slowly across the room. The feet should be 
well apart, but the contestants will discover 
just how far apart it is necessary to have them. 
The struggle should be continued until the de- 
signated distance has been covered. Then, 
after breathing, the struggle should be repeated 
back to starting point. 

This exercise is one that calls for strenuous 
work. No harm can possibly result from the 
work if the instructor is on the alert to see 
that no pupil carries the exertion to a point 
that causes panting or palpitation. The bene- 
fit to the arms — to the wrists most of all — is 
great. 

As a variation the pupils should be in- 
structed to clasp right hands only, and to re- 
peat the struggle. The same work is to be done 



20 Physical Training for Children 

also with left hands opposed. Then the right 
hand of one contestant should be opposed to 
the left hand of the other, and the push re- 
peated. Both instructor and pupil are to 
remember, at all times, that the right side 
should never be exercised at the expense of 
the left. In fact, in the beginning, it is well 
to give the left side rather more work. The 
man or woman of proper physique should have 
as much strength in the left side of the body as 
in the right. 

The form of the struggle just described may 
be duplicated in many ways. Hands may be 
clasped over each other's heads, and the strug- 
gle may be employed. In this case the feet 
should be far apart, and the bodies of the 
pupils slanting toward each other. No parts 
of the bodies except the hands should touch. 
Then the pupils may bend over as close to the 
floor as they can go with comfort, and the feet 
a little more close together. With hands 
clasped as in the foregoing they may struggle, 
but this will be found to be rather hard work. 

A form of the struggle that is difficult for 
people of adult age, but one that is easy of 



The '' Struggle " 21 

accomplishment by young people, is found in 
the back-to-back struggle. In this the two 
pupils stand with their shoulder-blades touch- 
ing each other's. The hands are extended 
sideways, on a level with the shoulders. Each 
contestant clasps the other's opposing hands, 
and the fingers are interlaced. Then, with a 
slight backward inclination of the body of 
each, and with feet somewhat apart, the assail- 
ant pushes or pulls the victim across the floor. 
No parts of the bodies below the shoulder- 
blades should touch. 

This form of struggle, being a difficult one, 
should be carried on only for a short distance. 
It is important that, after breath has been 
secured, the assailant and victim change places 
and repeat the work. The idea of the exer- 
cise, as to position, is depicted very accurately 
in photograph number five. 

The struggle may be varied again by having 
the two contestants stand back to back, bodies 
touching from the shoulder-blades to the small 
of the back. Both pupils stand very nearly 
erect, leaning just slightly toward each other. 
The elbows are out at the sides ; fists are 



2 2 Physical Training for Children 

clenched and held against the breasts. The 
feet are but a little way apart. Every muscle 
of legs, body, and arms is made as tense as is 
possible. At the command "Start!" the 
assailant slowly pushes the victim. After the 
stop, and when enough breath has been in- 
haled, the same feat should be performed in 
the opposite direction. 

In this last exercise the resistance should be 
as stubborn on both sides as is consistent with 
the strength of the opposing pupils. The 
back is greatly benefited, as are also the mus- 
cles of the leg. The outstretched elbows may 
be employed against those of the opponent, 
and the bodies of each should sway from side 
to side. The shoulder-blades of each should 
be brought well into play through a wriggling 
movement of the trunk. 

Just by way of varying this back struggle, 
and making the exercise more amusing, as well 
as an excellent test of strength, the pupils 
should stand facing in opposite directions, but 
side by side. One presses his nearer shoulder 
against the other's, and a struggle across the 
floor follows. At this time the feet cannot be 




No. 5. THE BACK-TO-BACK STRUGGLE. 



The " Struggle " 23 

far apart ; one foot must follow the other as 
progress across the floor is made. The trunks 
of the bodies of the contestants will touch 
somewhat, but this contact should be avoided 
as much as is possible. And again it is neces- 
sary to caution each student to see that the 
left side of his body receives at least as much 
of the benefit of this exertion as does his right 
side. 

By way of change, in another practice bout, 
the assailant stands just behind the victim. 
The latter bends slightly forward, in order to 
be able to offer more resistance. His heels 
are rather close together, but not touching, 
and his toes are turned outward. The assail- 
ant throws his arms around the victim's waist, 
clasping his hands at the front of the victim's 
abdomen. Now, the assailant attempts to 
draw his companion backward, the latter 
yielding inch by inch, first on one heel and 
then on the other. There should be swaying 
of the body as one of the victim's heels goes 
back toward the other. 

Where weights are about equal the victim 
will have the advantage, provided the aggressor 



24 Physical Training for Children 

does not attempt to pull his comrade back 
by a sudden jerk. The work is to be done 
very slowly and resistantly, and no attempt at 
a backward jerk is to be permitted by the in- 
structor. At all times the clasp of the assail- 
ant should be firm and the pull even. The 
assailant may use his feet in any position and 
in any form of motion that he finds to be 
necessary to victory, but the victim should 
not change from the starting position of his 
feet any more than is needed for letting one 
heel "inch" behind the other, and his toes 
must be pointed outward until the struggle is 
completed. 

This task may be performed also in the 
reverse way, by having the assailant clasp his 
hands, from in front, around the small of the 
victim's back and struggling backward, but 
this method of work will not be found as in- 
teresting or as beneficial. But a very good 
way of varying the work is found when the 
aggressor faces his victim at his side and clasps 
his hands at the victim's other side. Then the 
struggle begins, the assailant endeavouring to 
pull his victim along. The latter is permitted 



The '' Struggle " 25 

to bend slightly toward the side on which the 
comrade's hands are clasped. The struggle is 
to be made a slow and stubborn one, and care 
must be taken not to wrench the victim off 
his feet. 

The single-hand resistant work, where the 
two pupils face each other, has been described 
already, and is shown in photograph number 
six, but there is another and more excellent 
variation of this work that should be taken up 
in this connection. The contestants face each 
other and clasp right hands, the arms being 
held out nearly horizontally in front. Each 
contestant employs his left hand in clasping 
his own right wrist. Then a slow, stubborn 
struggle begins, the assailant doing his best to 
push his comrade backward across the floor. 
Victory must be allowed to be made possible 
in the end, but progress across the floor should 
be slow. Then the employment of the hands 
is reversed, so that each uses his own left hand 
for the clasp with the other's and his right 
hand to encircle his own left wrist. The 
struggle is then repeated back to starting 
point. 



26 Physical Training for Children 

Photograph number seven depicts a kind of 
struggle that should be employed once in a 
while. The aggressor crosses his arms in front 
of him, with the right arm over the left. With 
his right hand he takes a hold at the right side 
of the victim's neck. His left arm he places 
at the other's left side of the waist. The vic- 
tim takes a similar hold. Then the victim is 
forced gradually to the left. After a pause, 
with breathing, the return struggle is made, 
the one who was recently victim becoming 
assailant now. 

It has been remarked already that some one 
form of the struggle should be used in every 
tour of exercise. The particular kind should 
be left to the choice of the instructor, some 
heed being paid to the apparent preference of 
the pupil. But all of the struggle work herein 
described should be attempted during the 
course of a month. 

When the exercises described already have 
been carried on for four consecutive weeks the 
student will be astonished at his increase in 
health and strength — always provided that the 
work has been done with zeal. Yet, while it 



The '' Struggle " 27 

is recommended that pupils carry on the work 
outside of school-room or gymnasium, it is to 
be urged that the effort be not made to an 
extreme. Aching muscles show that this has 
been done. Lameness or soreness of any kind 
proves that living tissue of the body has been 
burned. It is the sole aim of exercising and 
breathing properly to burn out only the dying 
tissue. 

Nor should the pupil forget, even once in a 
while, to breathe deeply and heavily between 
each of the exercises. It is the oxygen in the 
air that burns dying, and therefore useless, 
tissue. 

A hint to the instructor will be of value 
in increasing the effectiveness of the work. 
When there is a large class it is impossible for 
the teacher to note the work of each pupil. 
The work may be slighted ; or, no matter how 
much zeal is employed by the student, the 
work may be done in the wrong way. It is 
advised that the instructor note those of the 
pupils who display the most intelligence. 
These should be selected as monitors. In a 
class of fifty young people there should be at 



28 Physical Training for Children 

least two monitors, who are to move about 
through the class and see to it that every 
member is doing the work in the right way. 
There should be created a feeling of honour in 
being a monitor, as he who is thus selected 
knows that he is looked upon as being efficient 
in gymnastic work. 

The monitor should be a young person of 
authority. He should move constantly in 
and out between the couples of contestants, 
and should say, for instance : 

"Hold your arms straight." Or: "Resist 
more." " You are using too much resistance. 
When using that form of struggle do not allow 
any portions of your bodies except the chests 
to touch," "Go to a window and breathe 
deeply." "You are panting. Stop the work, 
and do not return to the class until you are 
called." 

It is in this matter of panting that monitors 
should be instructed to be most careful. If 
the panting be slight, a few deep breaths will 
remedy the trouble. But when there is con- 
tinued trouble with the breathing the sufferer 
should be ordered to take a long rest. In some 



The *' Struggle " 29 

cases it is well to order the over-zealous pupil 
out of the class for the remainder of the bout. 
When the exercises are done properly there 
will be, in the case of normally healthy youth, 
no necessity for panting. A weak child should 
be allowed to take part in only a few of the 
exercises until strength has been developed. 

Every student should be encouraged to take, 
at home, some of the exercises that he has 
been taught in the school-room or in the gym- 
nasium. The same caution against over- 
exercise should be offered. If a long tour of 
physical work is given daily in the school more 
exercise at home is not needed. Play will 
supply the needed addition in the way of 
bodily exertion. 

But on Saturdays and Sundays, when school 
is not in session, the pupil should practice 
with another at home, and preferably in the 
yard, where the air will be purer than in the 
house. If the exercises are taken in the house 
the windows of the room should be open. 

When muscular work is undertaken at home 
it should be borne in mind that it should be 
begun at such a time that it will end at least 



so Physical Training for Children 

an hour before the next meal is eaten. Nor 
should exercise be attempted until at least an 
hour and a half after a meal. 

Proper exercise is needed every day in the 
week. Sunday is devoted to religious duties, 
but the building up of a healthy body is a 
proper observance of religion. We should try, 
at all times, to possess bodies that are strong 
and healthy enough to please Him in Whose 
image we were created. 



CHAPTER III 

THE NEED OF LIGHT EXERCISE IN ALTERNA- 
TION WITH THE HEAVIER— SAMPLE 
WORK OF THE LIGHTER KIND 

If left to themselves, in the following out of 
any system of exercise that appeals to them, 
young people will take to, and remain at, al- 
most invariably, the severer forms of physical 
work. It should be the constant aim of every 
instructor in a school to see to it that the 
severer forms of exercise are varied by the 
lighter ones. And it is equally the duty of 
the instructor to impress upon the pupil,, at all 
times, that whatever muscle-training he at- 
tempts outside of the school should be followed 
along the same lines of varying light and severe 
feats. 

Some pupils, because of natural weakness, 
will not be able, at first, to take up any of the 
severer work. These pupils should be kept 
31 



32 Physical Training for Children 

wholly upon the lighter work until their gradu- 
ally improving physical conditions make it pos- 
sible for them to take up the severer work by 
very slow degrees. 

In this chapter will be described lighter exer- 
cises that students in normal health may use 
in alternation with the harder work — work at 
which the weaker children should be kept at 
almost exclusively until greater muscular de- 
velopment has been acquired. These light 
forms of exercise will consist mainly of bend- 
ing and swaying. Where the drill is taken 
merely as a rest from more strenuous work the 
students may be about evenly matched in 
strength. But where these exercises are em- 
ployed for gradually strengthening a weaker 
pupil, that one should be always the victim 
until greater strength has been acquired, and 
the aggressor should be a student of normal 
strength who will be capable of handling the 
victim with ease and consideration. 

The first drill of this kind that fully meets 
the requirements oi jiu-jitsu is found when the 
victim faces the instructor. The aggressor 
stands at the left of the victim. The latter 



Need of Light Exercise 33 

extends his left hand so that it is about on a 
level with his waist-line. The aggressor seizes 
the victim's left hand at the wrist with both of 
his own hands clasped around it. Now, the 
aggressor permits the victim to bend over to 
the right as far as the latter can with com- 
fort. In case of great weakness the victim 
must be careful to avoid dizziness. As soon 
as the victim has gone over to the right as far 
as is consistent with comfort, then the aggres- 
sor should pull his companion slowly back to 
erect position, the victim holding back in such 
a way as to give all of the dead-weight resist- 
ance possible. 

With students of ordinarily good health this 
feat may be performed as many times as the 
instructor deems necessary for the purpose of 
rest from severer work. Of course the aggres- 
sor must work from the victim's right side as 
well as from the left ; and when both contest- 
ants are reasonably strong, assailant and victim 
should change places frequently. But, where 
one of the contestants is decidedly below the 
average of endurance, and is forced to be the 

victim at all times, then the friendly aggressor 
3 



34 Physical Training for Children 

should change frequently from the victim's left 
to right side. 

This drill may be varied, with interest and 
profit, when the aggressor permits the victim 
to bend over as far as possible to the right side, 
as already described, and then gradually brings 
the victim to erect position, and then over to 
the left side, the assailant slowly moving back 
a step or two and sinking to the left knee in 
such fashion as to pull the victim well over to 
the left. With a weak victim the feat stops 
at this point and is repeated at the opposite 
side of the victim. But where both contestants 
are reasonably strong the victim should slowly 
pull the aggressor to his feet, and bend over in 
the opposite side from the latter. 

Now comes a variation of the work that 
would not do at first for a very weak pupil, 
but it is excellent light work for two healthy 
contestants. The victim bends over until the 
right hand touches the floor at the side of the 
body. Now the assailant seizes the victim's 
extended left hand, clutching it with both 
hands around the wrist. Slowly, and with all 
of the dead-weig"ht resistance that can be em- 



Need of Light Exercise 35 

ployed, the victim is dragged to an erect posi- 
tion. When this exercise has been thoroughly- 
mastered it can be improved upon, as has been 
already suggested in another feat, by having 
the aggressor move backward a step or two and 
slowly go down upon one knee, forcing the vic- 
tim to bend over toward him. And, when this 
can be done with ease, the victim should pull 
the aggressor up to his feet, and over toward 
him as far as may be done. 

There is still another form of light side- 
swaying that may be employed to advantage 
as a variation. The victim faces the instruc- 
tor, while the assailant stands facing the vic- 
tim's left side. The latter contestant extends 
his left arm sideways and with the hand con- 
siderably above the top of the head. The 
aggressor employs both hands in securing a 
grasp from below of the wrist of this raised 
arm. Now, the victim is allowed to bend over 
to the right as far as he can with comfort, 
and the aggressor pulls his companion back to 
an erect position, the latter of course resisting 
all he can with his dead weight. And this 
form of the exercise can be gradually improved 



36 Physical Training for Children 

upon by the use of the same general principles 
already explained. Care must be taken that 
both sides of the body are equally exercised — 
for it cannot be impressed too often upon the 
student that the left side of the body should 
be in every respect physically equal to the 
right. Enough has been said already to indi- 
cate to any instructor just how far this style of 
work should be carried by an unusually weak 
pupil. Where both students are strong 
enough the feat should be carried eventually 
to the point where the aggressor steps back- 
ward and slowly sinks upon one knee, as in 
the foregoing, and compels the victim to bend 
over him, the latter then forcing his companion 
to an erect position. 

There is a variation in this last exercise that 
should not be attempted by a weak pupil. 
This is performed by the victim standing with 
one hand extended sideways about eight inches 
from the leg. All of the muscles of this arm 
must be held as rigid and tense as it is possible 
to make them. The assailant seizes the wrist 
with both hands. Now, the victim is allowed 
to bend over as far as may be away from the 



Need of Light Exercise 37 

assailant, but the former must not forget even 
for an instant to hold his seized arm in as rigid 
a position as he can. When the victim has 
bent over as far as he can the aggressor pulls 
him back to erect position. This exercise, too, 
is to be gradually improved upon by the addi- 
tion of all of the succeeding steps suggested in 
the foregoing forms of the work. 

The same general principles are to be applied 
to bending backward. Here the victim and 
aggressor face each other. The former extends 
one arm forward in such manner that the hand 
is about on a level with the abdomen. The 
assailant seizes the proffered wrist with both 
hands, and allows his companion to go over 
backward as far as he can with such sup- 
port. Now, the aggressor pulls his victim to 
erect position, the latter resisting by dead 
weight. The very weak student can carry the 
work to this point, provided it does not cause 
dizziness. Students in ordinarily good health 
can give to this work all of the added variations 
that have been explained. 

When this work has been done with equal 
benefit to both arms, and assailant and victim 



38 Physical Training for Children 

have changed places, the reverse form of this 
exercise may be attempted. Here the victim 
stands holding one arm backward, with the 
open hand about on a level with the waist-line. 
The assailant clutches the wrist with both 
hands, allows the victim to bend forward as 
far as he can, and then pulls him back to 
erect position. In time, the variation of pull- 
ing the victim over the aggressor, the latter 
sinking upon one knee, may be added, but of 
course this must not be attempted when the 
victim is far below the standard of normal 
strength. 

Next, let the two contestants go to the floor, 
facing each other, and each upon his left knee. 
In this position the right arm of each is ex- 
tended and the hands clasped. The assailant 
allows the victim to bend over as far backward 
as he can without discomfort, the latter then 
resisting the movement to pull his trunk and 
head erect. The aggressor, no matter how 
much stronger he may be, is expected to 
achieve the victory very slowly, but with a 
gradual, firm pull. 

After this, the contestants may kneel each 



Need of Light Exercise 39 

on the right knee. Now the left hands are 
clasped and the work is done over again in the 
same fashion. When both pupils are reason- 
ably strong the work should be done with 
strain and vim, yet slowly. A pupil below 
the average of strength should be the victim 
always — never the aggressor. 

For the final step of this work let the two 
contestants sink to either knee, though each 
must employ the same — each on the right 
knee, or each on the left. Now the arms are 
crossed so that right hand clasps right, and 
left hand the other's left. The swaying is 
done in identically the same manner as in the 
case of the single-hand work. 

In the reverse of this work, when the victim 
sinks upon one knee, with his back to the as- 
sailant, who is also upon one knee, the arm 
opposite to the knee upon which the victim 
rests is thrust backward and is seized by the 
corresponding hand of the assailant — thus the 
left hand by the left, or the right by the right. 
The victim bends forward as far as his com- 
panion can let him, and then the latter pulls 
the victim to the position of head and trunk 



40 Physical Training for Children 

erect. Except where one of the students is 
too weak to permit of the extension of this 
exercise the movement should be continued 
until the victim has been pulled as far over 
backward as he can go with comfort and safety. 
The victim should perform the work with both 
arms, and when each contestant is in good 
health victim and aggressor should change 
places as soon as both arms of the former have 
been employed in this feat. The work should 
be done always slowly and resistantly, but with 
vim and intelligent purpose. 

Sideward swaying, with each contestant on 
one knee, is an excellent form of this style of 
exercise. The victim, resting on the left knee, 
should face the instructor. The assailant, also 
resting on the left knee, faces the left side of 
his companion. The victim extends his left 
arm to the aggressor, who seizes the wrist with 
his right hand. Then the victim is allowed to 
bend over to the right as far as he can, after 
which the assailant slowly brings his compan- 
ion's head and trunk back to erect position, 
the victim resisting as much as he can by dead 
weight and by the employment of some muscu- 



Need of Light Exercise 41 

lar strength. After this the same work is tried 
at the right side of the victim, and each is upon 
his right knee, the victim extending his right 
arm, which is seized at the wrist by the assail- 
ant's left hand. In both cases healthy pupils 
may continue the movement until the victim 
is drawn well over toward the aggressor. Then 
assailant and victim change places, and do the 
work on both sides. The weak pupil must 
never be pulled farther than an erect position 
of trunk and head. 

In all of the kneeling work just described 
there is some danger of losing balance. This 
will prove a matter of no moment to healthy 
contestants, but care should be taken by the 
aggressor not to destroy the balance of a weak 
pupil. 

An easier feat for the victim is where the 
latter seats himself on the floor, with legs 
extended, and facing the instructor. The 
aggressor kneels on the left knee, facing his 
companion's left side. The victim's left hand 
is extended to his companion, who seizes the 
proffered wrist with his own right hand. The 
victim, not employing his right hand for 



42 Physical Training for Children 

balance or for any other purpose, but allowing 
it to rest idly in his lap, is allowed to bend as 
far to the right as he can, and then is pulled up 
to erect sitting posture. In the case of healthy 
students the movement may be continued until 
the victim is pulled well over to his left side. 
Then the exercise is reversed by the assailant 
resting on his right knee at the victim's right 
side and employing his own left hand to clasp 
the right wrist of the victim. Perform the 
exercise as before. 

While the victim is seated on the floor there 
is a mild form of exercise that is of gradual but 
decided benefit in strengthening the legs. Let 
the victim balance himself by resting the flat 
palms of his hands on the floor just back of 
the body. He should now raise his left foot a 
few inches from the floor, and the assailant 
should seize the ankle of this foot with both 
hands. The latter now attempts to press the 
left foot around to the left as far as it will go, 
the victim combating this pressure by resist- 
ance to the right. Care must be taken not to 
throw the sitting contestant off his balance. 
As soon as the foot has been carried as far to 



Need of Light Exercise 43 

the left as it will go, the assailant attempts to 
return the foot to the starting point, the victim 
all the while resisting by pressure to the left. 
Then the right foot and leg are handled in the 
same manner. In the case of pupils of average 
strength this movement culminates in an exer- 
cise wherein the assailant lifts both of the vic- 
tim's feet, holds them together, and swings the 
feet alternately from left to right as far as they 
will go in either direction. The victim resists 
by pressure in the direction opposite to that in 
which his companion is trying to force him. 
Healthy students may carry on this work with 
considerable vim and amusement, but this 
exercise with both feet seized should never be 
employed upon a weak victim. It goes with- 
out saying that a weak victim should never 
be thrown off his balance. Even a healthy 
victim should not be needlessly or roughly 
over-thrown. 

It is not possible to explain any more clearly 
than has been done just how far the exercises 
described in this chapter should be carried on 
by the pupil who is considerably below normal 
strength. The physical instructor or the class 



44 Physical Training for Children 

teacher must pick out all of the weaker ones 
under his care, and must exercise eternal vigil- 
ance in the effort to make sure that these pupils 
take only such exercises, and carry them only 
to such an extent, as will gradually increase 
the subject's strength and fit him by degrees 
for the somewhat more arduous feats. 

In communities where a physician is em- 
ployed as the physical director in the schools 
it is wholly advisable for the physical instructor 
or the class teacher to call his attention to the 
weaker ones in order that he may determine the 
exact physical condition of the pupil and order 
just the exercises that may be undertaken by 
each weak pupil profitably and without harm- 
ful fatigue. In smaller communities, where 
there is no regularly organised department of 
physical instruction for the schools, it is advis- 
able that the parents of a weak child employ 
the family physician to attend a bout of exer- 
cises in the school in order that he may deter- 
mine just what forms of exercise will prove of 
value in building up slowly the muscles of his 
weak little patient. 

And now just a few words of heartfelt sym- 



Need of Light Exercise 45 

pathy and advice for that most forlorn of little 
ones — the boy or girl who keenly realises that 
he or she is away below the physical standard 
of his or her companions, and that joining in 
the sports of more fortunate young people is 
out of the question. There is no sin in being 
weak when you cannot help it, but it is a crime 
against yourself to remain weak when the path 
to health and strength is pointed out and you 
refuse to follow it. 

The methods by which Japanese boys and 
girls are taught to make themselves ever 
stronger and more capable of endurance may 
be followed with the utmost certainty of better 
health and more energy by boys and girls any- 
where — always provided that the child is not 
afflicted by a wasting and incurable disease. 
Any boy or girl who cannot, at the outset, take 
up some of the milder forms of jiu-jitsu, and 
very gradually go on to harder exercises, is 
physically unfit to attend school at all. 

The pupil who is away below the standard 
of strength for his age will be astonished, after 
earnest but gentle work throughout a school 
year, at observing how much firmer his muscles 



46 Physical Training for Children 

are, and how greatly increased his general 
vitality is. This will be especially true when 
the work is kept up faithfully, but not too 
arduously, during the long summer vacation. 
]a.panesejiu-jttsu furnishes by far the swiftest 
road to the building of strong muscles and the 
utmost vitality. No matter how weak he may 
be at the outset of a school course m. jiu-jitsu, 
the weakling pupil who is not afiflicted by in- 
curable disease will find himself, after two or 
three years of earnest application, up to the 
general standard of strength possessed by the 
boys and girls of the same age with whom he 
associates. 

In all of the jiu-jitsu work, there are three 
rules that must be observed by healthy and 
weakly pupils alike. They are: 

(i) Moderation! 

(2) Moderation!! 

(3) MODERATION!!! 



CHAPTER IV 

THE POLE WORK 

Throughout the entire course oi jiu-jitsu 
work but one piece of apparatus is required — 
the pole. In Japan the pole is of tough bam- 
boo, but in this country, where bamboo is not 
so easily obtainable, a pole of any fairly hard 
wood will answer the purpose as well. 

As to the length of the pole, that depends 
altogether upon the average height of the 
pupils using it. As a general rule it may be 
laid down that the length of the pole should be 
not less than within two or three inches of the 
height of the pupil. The diameter of the pole, 
for fairly well grown students, should be about 
an inch and a quarter. For very little people 
the diameter may be a little less ; but the pole 
should never be of a wood so soft that it will 
bend, in the exercises to be described. 

It might almost be said that this pole work 
is a whole gymnastic course in itself, but this 
47 



48 Physical Training for Children 

statement must not be misunderstood. The 
pole must not be used until all of the work 
described in the preceding chapters has been 
thoroughly mastered and performed over and 
over again. The employment of the pole drills 
before the muscles have been hardened suffi- 
ciently for the successful performance of these 
feats, results in hurrying the pupil along too 
rapidly and without the gradual, rational de- 
velopment and hardening that every muscle in 
his body should have as a sound basis on which 
to build the pole work. 

But when all of the foregoing feats are famil- 
iar to the pupil through faithful and somewhat 
long practice he will find a vim, snap, and zest 
in these feats with the pole. And he will find 
out more. He will learn that, with the taking 
up of the pole his muscles, which heretofore 
have been hardening slowly, will now show 
rapid development within a fortnight or so if 
the pole work is indulged in for a few minutes 
every day. 

Overhead pole work is shown in photograph 
number eight, which depicts the finish of the 
feat. It is important, first of all, that the in- 




No. 8. OVERHEAD POLE WORK. THE FINISH OF THE FEAT. 



The Pole Work 49 

structor or class teacher should understand 
thoroughly just how the position is taken at 
the start, and how every detail of the feat is 
performed. The two pupils stand facing each 
other, with feet spread a little apart. They 
grasp the pole, held horizontally over their 
heads as high as it will go. Each has his right 
hand on the outside of the other's left, and a 
few inches from the ends of the pole. 

At the word of command the pupil who 
has been chosen as assailant bears the pole 
slowly down to his right side, at the same 
time pushing the other end upward with his 
left hand. The victim resists this attempt 
with just enough pressure to permit a grudg- 
ing victory. Naturally as the forcing over 
continues the assailant bends to his right side 
and the victim to his left. After a little 
while the pole is held perpendicularly between 
the two contestants. Now the real work of 
bending begins, for the end of the pole held by 
the assailant's left hand is forced over toward 
the floor at his right, and this motion carries 
his right hand past his abdomen over to his left, 
and the end of the pole held by the assailant's 



50 Physical Training for Children 

left hand is forced over until it touches the 
floor. Photograph number eight shows the 
exact position that is reached at this point. 
During the execution of this drill the hands 
must not be shifted from their original positions 
on the pole. 

Now that the assailant has succeeded in mak- 
ing his left-hand end of the pole touch the 
floor, the victim must retaliate by twisting the 
pole up overhead in -exactly the same fashion, 
and bring his own left-hand end of the pole to 
the floor on the other side of the bodies of the 
contestants by employing exactly the same 
tactics, and now it is the assailant who gives 
just enough resistance to make victory difUcult 
for his victim. 

There is one point about the return in this 
overhead pole work for which pupils must be 
on the lookout, and over which the instructor 
should exercise strict supervision. When the 
victim retaliates by twisting the pole over to 
his own right side it must be seen to that as 
the pole goes up and over, it is held horizontally 
and is as high over the heads of the pupils as 
it was at the start of the exercise. It will be 




No. 9. TRAVELLING AND PIVOTING WITH THE POLE. 



The Pole Work 51 

held there but a second or two during the 
struggle, but it must reach this overhead point 
in the upward and overward movement. Stu- 
dents, if not watched and made to follow out 
the instruction with strict discipline, are likely 
to bring the pole, on the return, no more than 
chest high— and thus much of the benefit of 
the performance is lost. 

When both assailant and victim have suc- 
ceeded in making the left-hand end of the pole 
touch the floor, a pause should be taken. Now 
deep breathing should be indulged in for at 
least thirty seconds, and instructor and class 
monitors should make it a point to see to it 
that every pupil who has taken the exercise is 
breathing fully and properly. 

By this time every pupil, of course, is thor- 
oughly familiar with the resistant wrist work 
described in Chapter I. and illustrated in the 
first photograph. A drill very much like the 
wrist work, but performed with the pole, is 
shown in photograph number nine. Here the 
two students face each other, holding the pole 
as at the start in the overhead work, with the 
exception that the pole is held horizontally 



52 Physical Training for Children 

just below the abdomen. The pupil who has 
been selected to fill the role of victim stands 
with his heels together and feet at an angle of 
about forty-five degrees. He is to pivot — that 
is, to turn slowly upon his heels as the as- 
sailant forces him around. The assailant 
"travels." At the word of command the 
assailant walks around to the victim's left, the 
latter resisting, but always pivoting as the as- 
sailant gradually gains the victory. The latter 
continues to travel until he has swung his 
companion's body completely around. Then 
assailant and victim change places. 

It is to be borne in mind that in this form of 
the pole work the assailant always walks around 
the victim's left side. When contestants 
change places in each bout it will be under- 
stood that both sides of the body receive equal 
exercise and strain, providing the drill is gone 
through faithfully and with enough resistance 
on the part of each contestant. 

After an interval for proper breathing the 
contestants should pass on to another form of 
pole work, the point of victory in which is 
illustrated by photograph number ten. At 




No. 10. SINGLE-HAND POLE WORK OVERHEAD. 



The Pole Work 53 

first glance it looks as if the assailant, employ- 
ing both hands, could have things all his own 
way with the victim, who uses only one hand. 
But such is not the case. 

If the victim is to use his right hand in this 
feat, then the assailant stands slightly to the 
left of his companion, and they face in opposite 
directions. The two contestants hold the pole 
horizontally on a line with the abdomen and 
about six inches from the body. The assailant, 
at the outset, takes hold of the pole with the 
back of his left hand downward and the back of 
his right hand upward. The victim takes hold 
of his own end of the pole with the right hand 
only with its back upward. As the exercise 
progresses each of the three hands employed 
will have its back shifted gradually to the 
opposite side of the pole. 

At the word of command the assailant tries 
to raise the pole slowly upward over the vic- 
tim's head, and to place it over back of the 
head and down a little below the level of the 
shoulders at the back. The victim, employing 
only his right hand, should resist this attempt. 
The instant, however, that the assailant gets 



54 Physical Training for Children 

the pole up over his companion's head, and 
going down behind it, victory is assured. As 
a final sign that he has conquered, the assailant 
should force the victim, still retaining his hold 
on the pole, to turn completely around. 

Now the victim should employ his left hand 
just as he did his right before, and the assailant 
should stand at his victim's right side. After 
an interval of breathing the two contestants 
should change places, and the new victim 
should have his arms exercised in turn in the 
same manner. 

It is highly important that the instructor see 
to it that the assailant always stands on the op- 
posite side of the victim's body from the hand 
employed by the latter. Thus, if the assailant 
should stand at the right of the victim when the 
latter is employing his right hand in resistance, 
the benefit of the exercise would be wholly lost. 

It is time, now, to take up another drill in 
which travelling and pivoting with the pole are 
performed as is shown in photograph number 
eleven. Here the two contestants face each 
other, holding the pole in the usual manner for 
a two-hand grip and about on a level with the 



The Pole Work 55 

waist-line. When the word is given the two 
contestants bend forward as far as they can, 
the pole still being held horizontally. The 
pole should be below the knees of the contest- 
ants. When the word is given the assailant 
walks around at the victim's left, the latter 
resisting and pivoting until she has been 
turned completely around. It is not necessary 
to repeat this work at the victim's right side, as 
the same advantage is gained if the aggressor 
and victim change places at once and go 
through the exercise again. But this work 
should be done with the utmost vim, although 
slowly. The resistance of the victim should 
be energetic and resolute ; when the victim is 
much the stronger of the pair, just enough re- 
sistance should be given to force the assailant 
to work hard for victory. 

There is a variation of this feat, and an ex- 
cellent one, that may be employed. In the 
same position as before let each contestant 
hold the pole with the right hand only, and let 
the assailant walk around to the victim's left 
until the latter's body has been once more 
turned completely around. In this drill it is 



56 Physical Training for Children 

permissible, and perhaps advisable, for both 
contestants to hold the pole with left hands, 
and for the assailant to travel around the vic- 
tim's right until the latter pupil has been 
forced to make the usual complete turn. 

In this travelling and pivoting, with the pole 
held so close to the floor, there is a great ten- 
dency among indifferent pupils to evade the 
benefits of the work by merely wheeling easily 
around without making real use of any of the 
muscles that should be strenuously employed. 
It is for the instructor and the monitors to 
keep close watch, and to make sure that none 
of this looseness of execution goes undetected 
or uncorrected. 

All of the travelling and pivoting work with 
the pole may be performed by pupils of the age 
of five or six. The bones of very young child- 
ren are so supple and pliable that the travel- 
ling and pivoting work will be of decided 
benefit. It must be left to the instructor to 
decide, from the average strength of his class, 
whether the overhead pole work should be 
taken up by very young children. Pupils of 
the age of nine or ten, if in reasonably good 




No. 12 FORCING THE POLE, HELD OBLIQUELY, UNTIL LOWER END 
TOUCHES THE FLOOR. 



The Pole Work 57 

health, should be expected to do all of the 
pole work. If it is found inadvisable to intro- 
duce the pole work into every practice bout 
for at least six or eight weeks, when this stage 
of exercising is reached, it should be used in 
its entirety in at least two practice bouts a week 
for a much longer time. Lack of attention 
to the pole work, or failure to make the most 
serious use of it will result in the loss of much 
of the benefit that will accrue from patient, 
persistent application of ih.Q Jiu-jitsu rules for 
making muscle. 

Pupils should be encouraged to practice all 
of the forms of pole work in play hours outside 
of school, with the necessary warning against 
overdoing and the caution that the two con- 
testants should be as fairly matched in strength 
as is possible. 

With these parenthetical remarks I will 
pass on to a description of the kind of pole 
work that is shown in photograph number 
twelve. The pole is held by both hands of 
each contestant just as in the case of the two- 
hand overhead pole work. The pole, however, 
is held obliquely between the two contestants 



58 Physical Training for. Children 

as they stand erect and facing each other. 
The lower end of the pole is held a foot or 
more from the floor at the victim's right side, 
and the victim has his right hand nearer that 
end of the pole. The upper end of the pole is 
past the left side of the victim's head, and the 
assailant's right hand is nearer the upper end 
of the pole. 

At the command the assailant tries to force 
the lower end of the pole down so that it 
touches the floor and is held there, the victim, 
of course, resisting the downward pressure by 
an upward one. Next the work is reversed so 
that the pole is forced down to the floor at the 
victim's left side. Then assailant and victim 
change places, and the work is gone through 
with once more. Naturally some side bending 
is necessary to the attainment of victory. 

When this work is rightly done it builds 
strong muscle rapidly. But both the illustra- 
tion and the text must be studied carefully 
until the whole idea is mastered. 

A variation of exercise that need not be at- 
tempted in every bout where the pole is used, 
but which will produce better results the 



The Pole Work 59 

oftener it is used, is one in which the victim 
has decidedly the better of it. The contest- 
ants face each other, standing erect, and each 
takes the usual two-hand hold on the pole, 
which is held horizontally and about breast- 
high. At the word the assailant tries to push 
the pole, always held horizontally throughout 
the feat, down below the level of his knees. 
The victim resists by an upward pressure. No 
matter how the pole is held at the outset it 
will be found necessary for the assailant to 
shift his hands gradually to an over-hand hold. 
The victim will find the under-hand hold more 
useful. If it is found impossible for the assail- 
ant to bring the pole down the victim must 
yield slowly, and just enough to make gradual 
victory possible. 

After breathing, the two contestants start 
by bending over, with the pole just below the 
knees, and the assailant must gradually bring 
the pole up breast-high and in a horizontal 
position. It will be understood that now the 
assailant will require an under-hand hold, while 
the victim employs an over-hand hold. 

Another form of pole drill is had when the 



6o Physical Training for Children 

victim stands with his hands just back of his 
head and clutching one end of the pole. The 
assailant stands at his left, facing in the oppo- 
site direction with both hands on the other end 
of the pole. Now the assailant travels around 
to the victim's left, the latter pivoting until he 
has been forced to make a complete turn on 
his heels. Then the work is repeated by the 
assailant travelling around to the right of the 
victim, and forcing the latter to pivot. Again 
victim and assailant change places, and repeat 
the work at either side in turn. Care should 
be taken that in this work the pole is not 
pressed too severely against the back of the 
victim's neck. A light pressure against the 
neck, however, while it should be avoided if 
possible, will not result in injury. Instructor 
and monitors should be on the watch for too 
severe pressure against the victim's neck, and 
the latter has an easy remedy of his own in let- 
ting go of the pole if he finds that any pain is 
being caused in his neck. 

There is but one more kind of pole work that 
the author would suggest for use at the pre- 
sent stage of instruction, and this not only be- 



The Pole Work 6i 

cause it is an excellent muscle-maker, but also 
because it adds some amusement to a bout. 
Here the two contestants kneel on the floor 
at the right or left side of each other. The 
victim takes an over-hand hold of his end of 
the pole, and remains kneeling throughout this 
exercise. He allows the assailant to take an 
under-hand hold of the pole and to raise his 
end without opposition from a few inches to 
a foot off the floor. Now, at the word, the 
struggle begins. The assailant strives to rise 
gradually until he has the pole in a perpendicu- 
lar position with the victim's end touching the 
floor. Of course, when the victim has de- 
cidedly the better of it, he must make some 
gradual, though grudging allowance, to his 
companion. 

It should be borne in mind at all times that, 
no matter how far the pupil has progressed 
beyond the present stage of instruction, fre- 
quent and arduous returns to the pole work 
should be encouraged — even compelled. Once 
the pole work has been reached, and mastered, 
it should never be wholly discontinued from 
X.\iQ Jiu-jitsu training. 



CHAPTER V 

TUG-OF-WAR DRILLS 

So much benefit is to be derived from the 
various tugs-of-war that they should be begun 
at this stage of the instruction. At first, a few- 
lessons may be given up wholly, or almost 
wholly, to the tugs, until their principles and 
methods of execution have been thoroughly 
mastered. After that, one or two of the tugs 
will suffice for a practice bout, and I shall de- 
scribe so many different forms of this work that 
there will be a great variety from which to 
choose. Monotony will thus be avoided. 

First of all, our old friend, the pole, is to be 
called into use, in the kind of work that is ac- 
curately depicted in photograph number thir- 
teen. Right here the instructor's attention 
should be called to the two pupils. While the 
pose is absolutely correct, neither pupil is mak- 
ing the proper amount of effort. This is what 
62 



Tug-of-War Drills 63 

may happen, at times, when the instructor and 
the monitors are not vigilant. One pupil is 
walking serenely backward, and the other is 
following without resistance. 

Unless the tugs-of-war are executed with 
great vim their employment is useless! 

Study the position, however. Each pupil 
has her right hand well up toward the centre 
of the pole, with an overhand hold. The left 
hand is near the extremity of the pole, and the 
underhand hold is used. Each bends over for 
the tug. The victim is close to one end of the 
room. When it is not possible for the tug to 
be carried the width or the length of the room, 
there should be a designated point from, which 
the victim starts, and another at which the as- 
sailant stops. These drills make ideal work for 
out-of-doors, especially when the contestants 
can exercise on grass. 

At the word of command the assailant starts 
to drag the victim along. Both contestants 
must bend well forward, with heels firmly set. 
There must be all of the resistance on both 
sides that can be properly employed, and the 
conquest must be made a hard one for the 



64 Physical Training for Children 

assailant. When the limit of the tug has been 
reached the late victim must drag the com- 
panion back to starting point. 

Shod feet are certain to slip more or less on 
the school or gymnasium floor. On the grass 
there will be a much better purchase for both 
contestants. At home it is well for both con- 
testants to remove the shoes and perform all of 
the tugs in the stocking feet. It may be a 
trifle hard on the stockings, but much better 
purchase for this kind of contest will be ob- 
tained. Old stockings may be used for this 
purpose, or very cheap ones may be bought 
for this especial need. 

Now, study the boy and girl shown in photo- 
graph number fourteen. Here they stand with 
right sides slightly inclined toward each other. 
Right hands are clasped, with backs upward; 
the fingers are tightly interlaced, and the 
thumbs crossed. In this case the boy is the 
assailant. He throws himself backward, while 
the girl leans slightly forward in order to get a 
better purchase for resistance. At the word of 
command the boy drags his companion the 
designated distance, but the girl is not ex- 



Tug-of-War Drills 65 

pected to allow him to have things all his own 
way. She throws the weight of her body and 
whatever muscular strength she can into the 
scale. Of course, if she is so much the heavier 
and the stronger that he cannot make her 
move, then she must, while partially resisting, 
yield just enough to make his victory possible. 
When the limit of the tug has been reached she 
drags the boy back to starting point in the 
same manner. 

Next the left arms of both are exercised. 
When, as is usually the case, the right side is 
better developed than the left, the instruc- 
tor should order rather more left-hand work 
than right. But, in time, this precaution 
will not be needed, as the whole tendency of 
jiu-jitsu is to develop both sides of the body 
so equally that there is a perfect balance of 
strength. 

In order to give variation in the work the 
pole may be taken up once more. In this 
exercise the contestants face each other, with 
arms extended forward. This pole is held hor- 
izontally, and about on a level with the chest. 

In taking the pole the hands are placed as in 
■ 5 



66 Physical Training for Children 

the overhead pole work described in the fore- 
going chapter. In the struggle that follows, 
when the contestants will be obliged to bend a 
good deal, and to twist not a little, it may not 
be always possible to keep the pole just chest- 
high or exactly horizontal, but this should be 
done as nearly throughout as is possible. 

Now comes the word of command, and the 
assailant starts to drag his victim across the 
stretch. Every bit of snap possessed by either 
pupil should be brought out. The work should 
be so stubbornly done that exhilaration and en- 
thusiasm are caused thereby. When the stretch 
has been covered the late victim drags his 
companion back to starting point. 

Another but more difficult form of the same 
work is found when the pole is held on a line 
with the abdomen at the start of the tug. All 
through this exercise every effort must be made 
to keep the pole at the level of the abdomen. 

Increasingly difficult is the third form, where 
the pole is held horizontally at a line between 
the abdomens and knees. In this case victory 
is almost impossible when the pupils are evenly 
matched, unless the victim yields grudgingly. 



Tug-of-War Drills 67 

Now, for more downright hard work. Stand 
back- to back, with the hands backward on a 
line with the small of the back. Each pupil 
grasps the pole near his own end of it, each 
taking the hold that he finds he can make most 
useful. Each bends forward, the assailant in 
order to get better leverage, and the victim 
that he may obtain better purchase for resist- 
ance. At the outset the assailant will need to 
place one foot slightly in advance of the other ; 
generally his companion will find it safer, at 
first, to place the heels close together, and 
afterward shifting them as need dictates. 

Then the word of command is given, and, if 
the contestants are at all evenly matched, there 
should be battle-royal. A short stretch is all 
that is needed for this work, as it is not de- 
sired to tire either contestant, and it must be 
borne in mind that each must be permitted to 
retain breath and strength enough when it 
comes time for the victim to retaliate by drag- 
ging the other pupil back to starting point. 

There is all-around benefit in this exercise 
when full energy is used. As soon as the tug 
begins it will be discovered that arms and legs 



68 Physical Training for Children 

are tense. The thighs and back come in for 
their full share of play, and much is gained for 
the muscles of the neck, especially at the back 
of the neck. The abdominal muscles come in 
for a less degree of employment, but to the 
wrists is imparted that peculiar combination, 
found in advanced jiu-jitsu students, of great 
flexibility and steel-like muscles. The knees, 
also, gain in flexibility and strength. 

As a simple variation, and one more easy of 
execution, the pupils stand back to back, as 
before, but with the hands held over the head, 
and slightly in advance of the forehead. With 
these differences, the pole is grasped as before. 
While the tug is going on, the pole must not 
be permitted to touch the head of either pupil, 
and all tendency to lower the pole to either 
shoulder of either contestant must be avoided, 
for there is a separate exercise now to be de- 
scribed that covers the shoulder work. 

With the pupils standing back to back, allow 
the pole to rest over the right shoulder of the 
assailant, and over the left shoulder of the vic- 
tim, holds to be taken as before. When the 
stretch has been covered, and the late assailant 



Tug-of-War Drills 69 

has been dragged back to starting point, the 
exercise is then reversed by the assailant hold- 
ing the pole on his own left shoulder and rest- 
ing it across the victim's right. 

One more form of tug-of-war with the pole 
will be sufificient. In this the contestants face 
each other, the pole being held horizontally 
over their heads. Each takes a two-hand hold 
of the pole just back of his head, and the tug 
is performed, with retaliation. Each pupil 
bends slightly backward during the exercise for 
reasons that already have been made clear. 

A more difificult tug with the hands than any 
described so far is shown in photograph num- 
ber fifteen. In this feat the victim stands side- 
ways at the assailant's back. The victim's 
left hand is placed over the assailant's right 
shoulder, and the latter contestant seizes the 
proffered hand, with fingers of the engaged 
hands of each interlaced. Now, the assailant 
bends quickly forward, forcing his companion 
to bend over with him, and the struggle over 
the stretch begins. When the distance has 
been covered, assailant and victim change 
places, now employing the hands not engaged 



70 Physical Training for Children 

before, and the drag over the stretch to start- 
ing point is made. 

When desired, both hands of each contestant 
may be employed at the same time. This 
affords a tug that calls for the use of a great 
deal of muscular strength, and should be used 
once in awhile. At the outset awkward pupils 
will find the two-hand back tug beset with diffi- 
culties, but when the work can be performed 
skilfully it will be a muscular achievement that 
is well worth the trouble of acquiring. 

Next, put the contestants side by side, facing 
in the same direction, and with their bodies 
only a few inches apart. The assailant's left 
hand is raised over his head, and so is the vic- 
tim's right. These hands are clasped with 
fingers interlaced. At the word of command 
the drag over the stretch is begun. Through- 
out the hands are to be kept over the head ; 
they must not be permitted to drop down- 
Once in awhile, during a bout, it will be 
found of advantage to change this last exercise 
somewhat by extending the engaged arms 
laterally, with the hand on a level with the 
shoulder. The same hand clasp is taken. 




No. 15. TUQ-OF-WAR WITH HANDS CLASPED OVER THE ASSAILANT'S 

SHOULDER. 

This exercise is a rapid muscle-maker. 



Tug-of-War Drills 71 

There must be little or no bending to the side ; 
the arms must be kept as nearly horizontal as 
is possible, the bodies erect. The assailant, if 
he is using his left hand to clasp his opponent's 
right, takes a side step to the right, endeavour- 
ing in the tug to drag his left foot after it, and 
thus to gain the victory step by step, and with 
a great deal of strain on the muscles employed, 
the victim resisting this progress all the while. 
Then the return drag is made, the late victim 
employing his left hand with his opponent's 
right. 

The next form is practised when the contest- 
ants stand side by side and clasp hands that are 
held on a line with the waist-line. The mus- 
cles of the arms engaged must be held as tense 
as is possible, in order that the hands may not 
be moved very far from the proper position 
during the tug. 

One more form of tug-of-war with the hands 
will be enough for the student. The contest- 
ants stand as before, but a little nearer each 
other. The hands, now, are held four or five 
inches from the leg, the insides of the wrists 
crossing, the back of each contestant's engaged 



72 Physical Training for Children 

hand nearer his opponent's leg, and the clasp 
is taken with fingers interlaced. The arms 
must be held in place with the utmost tense- 
ness of the muscles, as it is undesirable that 
the hands be changed in the least from the 
starting position throughout the drag over the 
stretch. Of course the late victim carries his 
companion back over the stretch. It will be 
necessary for the assailant to move his outer 
foot a very little at a time, and following it up 
with the other foot — a process familiar to boys 
as " inching." When victory is found to be 
impossible the victim is expected to yield a 
little at a time. 

By the time that the course of instruction 
has gone this far the pupil must be taught to 
do a most important thing — to think for him- 
self ! He must begin to study the why of 
every exercise — that is, provided he has reached 
the age when he can be expected to reason 
clearly. For instance, after any given exercise 
has been performed, the instructor, addressing 
one of the pupils, should inquire: 

"In the last exercis-e in what part of your 
body did you feel the most strain? " 



Tug-of-War Drills 73 

"In the small of my back, I think," the 
pupil may answer. 

If this reply be correct, the teacher should 
then ask: 

"Where was the next greatest strain? " 

"In my wrists, and from there up to the 
elbows. ' * 

"Did you feel any strain at the back of the 
knee?" 

"A little, as I remember." 

"Then observe more closely on that point 
the next time you take up that exercise." 

"Yes, sir." 

"Now, in what part of the body do you 
consider that your muscles are weakest? " 

"In my wrists." 

"Do you try the exercises for strengthening 
the wrists outside of school hours? " 

"Not particularly." 

"Will you do so after this? " 

"Yes, sir." 

"Do you know all of the exercises that ex- 
ercise the wrist ? " 

"I think so." 

"Describe some of them." 



74 Physical Training for Children 

And so the examination may go on. Pupils 
who appear to take the work too easily and 
indifferently should be subjected especially to 
such quizzes. The pupil who always shows 
enthusiasm and snap at his work is likely to 
absorb very rapidly an intelligent idea of what 
he is doing and why he is doing it. 

At about this stage of the work, it will be 
well, too, for the instructor to give to pupils 
who are old enough to understand a clear, sim- 
ple idea of the principal muscles of the arms, 
legs, and torso, with the names of these mus- 
cles and their uses in the human anatomy. For 
this purpose • charts showing the human body 
and its muscles may be hung on the wall, or 
if the class is provided with text-books on 
physiology the illustrations in the book may be 
studied. In the jiu-jitsu class it will be suffi- 
cient to devote three or four minutes of every 
training bout to this knowledge of the loca- 
tions, names, and uses of the muscles. It will 
be sufficient to gain knowledge of one muscle 
each day that exercise is given, and, occasion- 
ally, instead of studying another muscle, the 
time may be devoted to a rapid but searching 



Tug-of-War Drills 75 

review of what has been taught already con- 
cerning muscles. It is suggested that the in- 
structor have no appointed days for these 
reviews, but that he endeavour to catch the 
pupils unawares. 

After the muscles are well understood the 
principal bones of the body should be taken up, 
and their locations, names, and uses learned. 
The instructor should explain how exercise, 
through increasing the circulation of the blood, 
makes the bones larger, healthier, and stronger 
than they would be were no exercise taken. 

Just how much of this instruction as to mus- 
cles and bones should be given in t\iQ Jiu-jitsu 
class should depend upon the completeness of 
the course, if there be any in physiology. 
Where the training in physiology is reason- 
ably thorough the pupil may be asked to bring 
from the latter study explanations of the bene- 
fits to be derived from Jiu-jitsu. Or, he may 
remember the results of h\s Jiu-jitsu work, and 
seek to analyse and explain them when reciting 
in physiology. 

The decision on all these points must be 
governed by other school conditions, and must 



76 Physical Training for Children 

be left to the advice of the teacher and the ac- 
tion of the local school authorities. But the 
more of physiology that can be blended with 
jiu-jitsu, the more instructive, as well as the 
more entertaining, will both studies become to 
the pupil. 



CHAPTER VI 

STRENGTHENING THE BACK 

There are many boys who show outward 
signs of splendid muscular development. They 
can throw a missile over a great distance, and 
with accuracy. Their hardened arms look to 
be in the pink of condition. Their legs are, to 
make use of a common expression, as "solid 
as rocks." These boys are swift runners, and 
it is generally impossible to wind them, no 
matter what the speed, in any short sprint. 

This sort of boy will play with enthusiasm 
and energy through all the innings of a base- 
ball game. In the fall he will tramp for miles, 
if he knows there is a good clump of nut trees 
to be discovered. He will spend hours in 
gathering nuts, and will think nothing of walk- 
ing home again, unless the result of the day's 
outing is a basket or a gunny-sack that is too 
heavily filled for him to carry. 
77 



78 Physical Training for Children 

Yet assign this same youth to the task of 
sawing and splitting wood through a Saturday 
forenoon, or compel him for the same length 
of time to hoe or to pull weeds in a vegetable 
patch, and he comes in at noon so lame and 
stiff that he cannot return to an afternoon's 
work. He will lie down for the afternoon, or 
will mope around the house, complaining. 
Then his parents, or other well-meaning rela- 
tives, will remind him of his athletic prowess, 
so cheerfully achieved, and will deride him 
because the same amount of energy spent in 
actual work, tires him out. 

Yet there is a reason why the healthy, mus- 
cular boy can play baseball with less fatigue 
than he can perform out-of-door manual labour. 
Except football there are few out-door sports 
that entail great strain on the back. Here is 
the secret. The boy seems strong, but the 
muscles of his back have not been developed in 
keeping with those of the other parts of the 
body! 

Far more frequently is this the trouble with 
girls, even with those who seem most robust 
and healthy. How often, among the women 



Strengthening the Back 79 

around us, do we see those who go through 
life complaining of backs that ache at frequent 
intervals. 

The muscles of the back are as important to 
the possession of perfect strength as any that may 
be found in the human body. 

An illustration of this may be taken from my 
own experience. Several years ago the au- 
thor was interested in a manufacturing concern. 
A barrel of oil was delivered at the factory. It 
was necessary to hoist it to the second story. 
The truckman, one of the employees, and 
the author attempted this work. Ropes were 
made fast around the barrel, and a hook at- 
tached to the end of a single-pulley rope was 
caught in the ropes. Barrel and contents 
weighed a little more than five hundred pounds. 
We three tried to hoist the barrel. At the first 
attempt we got it some two feet clear of the 
ground. The second effort sent it up about a 
foot higher. The third time we got it a little 
over our heads, but had to let it down in haste, 
and were thankful that the heavy barrel did 
not land on our heads. 

At this trying time I saw a Japanese, who 



So Physical Training for Children 

was one of the officers of the company, walkmg 
slowly toward us. I called to him and asked 
him to come and help us. Smiling, he strolled 
up to where we stood panting. 

"Let go of rope," he suggested, "/put it 
up." 

We stood back, too astonished to protest. 
But, with the smile still on his face, that little 
Japanese, smaller than any one of us, took hold 
of the rope, and slowly, steadily, the barrel 
went up until it was in position to be swung in 
at the second floor. Then, without a sign of 
breathlessness, and with the same smile, the 
Japanese turned to us, with the words : 

"That was easy." 

It certainly looked so, but the truckman, 
who was accustomed to hard work all day long, 
stood by looking on with staring eyes and wide- 
open mouth. 

On another day I was standing with my 
Oriental acquaintance in front of a grocery 
store, where a truckman was unloading barrels 
of flour, and a clerk was rolling them into the 
back of the store. There were several men in 
the group, and the Japanese was coaxed into 



Strengthening the Back 8i 

telling of some of the feats of strength that are 
easy for his countrymen to perform. 

"Can you do such things? " asked one of the 
bystanders. 

"Perhaps," was the quiet answer of the 
Japanese. 

As the bystanders looked at the rather small 
build of the Oriental some of them laughed. 

Flushing slightly, but without a word, the 
Japanese walked over to where one of the bar- 
rels of flour lay. He picked it up, walked 
steadily to the back of the store with it, stood 
it in place, and walked unconcernedly out to 
the sidewalk. The tone of the men in the 
group changed in an instant. Any little fellow 
who could pick up such a load, and walk off 
with it, commanded their respect. 

That was before the author had begun the 
study of jiu-jitsu. Now he understands how 
both feats were accomplished. To be sure, 
there was some little amount of knack required 
in the performance of either feat, but the foun- 
dation of success lay in the possession of 
perfectly developed and thoroughly hardened 
back muscles. Any American boy, by careful 

6. 



82 Physical Training for Children 

attention to the principles of jiu-jitsu, and by 
constant work at its exercises, should be capa- 
ble of duplicating either feat by the time that 
he has reached manhood. 

Many of the exercises that have been de- 
scribed already have much to do with the 
toughening and strengthening of the muscles 
of the back. Some especial hints along this 
line will be given, however, in this chapter. 

Take a good look at the work that is shown 
in photograph number sixteen, study the de- 
scription thoroughly, and see how splendidly 
the backs of both contestants are exercised. 
There is not a muscle in the back that is not 
brought into play. 

At the start, the two pupils stand facing each 
other. The assailant clasps his hands, with 
fingers interlaced, around the back of the vic- 
tim's head, and just at the base of the brain, 
the victim allowing his own hands to hang limp 
at his side. Next, the assailant draws the vic- 
tim forward and down, the aggressor gradually 
bending one knee lower and lower until it 
touches the floor, and when the assailant has 
reached this position the victim's head must be 



Strengthening the Back 83 

as close to the floor as it is possible to bring 
it. 

It should go without saying, of course, that 
the victim uses all of the muscles of his back 
and neck in an effort to resist this pulling 
down of the head. The aggressor must not be 
permitted too easy a victory. Now comes the 
hardest part for the victim. He must slowly 
force his head upward, until, at last, he stands 
erect, and has also forced the assailant to his 
feet. Then, after a few deep breaths, assailant 
and victim exchange parts, and the work is 
performed again. This is excellent work for 
two boys or two girls to practise out of school 
hours, though never to excess. Stop at the 
first sign of breathlessness or palpitation, and 
do not try the exercise again in that bout. 

There is a far different kind of feat that is 
of great value when the pupils wear gymnasium 
suits, or it can be practised in ordinary clothing 
on the carpeted floor at home. The victim lies 
on the floor, flat on his back. The assailant, 
standing at either side of his companion, bends 
over and secures a firm hold under the latter's 
shoulders. Now the aggressor begins to lift 



84 Physical Training for Children 

the prostrate contestant, the former stepping 
slowly backward as he gradually succeeds. The 
victim does nothing but hang as dead weight, 
and the feat is finished when the aggressor has 
the other standing in erect position. This is 
work in which the victim receives a little benefit 
to the back and the aggressor a great deal. 
This is equalised when assailant and victim 
change places for a second attempt. One such 
performance for each is enough in any one 
practice bout. 

Next, let the aggressor drop to the floor on 
one knee. If it is his left knee, he uses his 
right arm and hand in the feat that is now to 
be described. If he drops upon the right knee 
he should use his left hand and arm — all this 
in order to preserve better balance. The hand 
is held as high as it will go in a slanting position, 
upward and forward. The victim stands, with 
his hands resting on his hips, and back to as- 
sailant. Now the victim bends slowly back- 
ward until the space between his shoulder- 
blades rests upon the supporting palm of his 
companion. This support secured, the victim 
bends farther and farther back, until he has 



Strengthening the Back 85 

gone as far over as the aggressor can safely 
support him. When this point is reached, the 
assailant slowly pushes the victim back to a 
standing position. 

In turn the assailant employs the hand, arm, 
and knee that were not used in the previous 
movement, and the work is done over once 
more Then, after proper breathing for a few 
moments, assailant and victim change places, 
and the work is done exactly as it was before. 
Like many of the other exercises, this work can 
be overdone ; at first, two movements for each 
of the contestants will be enough to introduce 
into any one practice bout. 

Now, by way of variation, let one of the 
pupils bend forward until his finger-tips touch 
the floor near his toes, the knees to be bent as 
little as is possible. The assailant, standing 
behind, clasps his hands around the other's 
abdomen, and slowly raises him to erect posi- 
tion, the victim hanging as dead weight. This 
exercise may be carried farther if the victim 
promptly extends his arms laterally and hori- 
zontally. The assailant grasps his companion's 
wrists, bends the arms slightly backward, and 



86 Physical Training for Children 

then gradually forces the victim over backward, 
the aggressor sinking slowly upon one knee. 
It is a strong victim, indeed, who can pull the 
assailant back to his feet from this position, 
and, generally, it should not be attempted, the 
release being made when the assailant touches 
upon one knee. 

It is good work for the aggressor when the 
victim lies face downward on the floor and is 
slowly lifted to his feet. Here the former 
takes a hold under the latter's chest, and, by 
stepping slowly backward, gradually accom- 
plishes the raising. The victim, who gains 
nothing from this, can secure his share of the 
benefit by becoming assailant in turn. 

A rather difficult form of exercise for the 
back is undertaken when the victim lies face 
downward upon the floor. The assailant, 
standing at his side, clasps both hands under 
the abdomen and tries to raise the victim's 
trunk and legs clear of the floor. As the latter 
is lifted from the floor he uses his hands and 
toes to sustain himself a little, but otherwise 
hangs as dead weight. When the victim has 
been raised as far as is possible, the aggressor 



Strengthening the Back 87 

gradually shifts to a side-hold, in such fashion 
that the victim is turned completely over, and 
now the assailant has a back-hold. As the vic- 
tim is turned he throws one arm over, in order 
that he may have some support from his hands. 
From this position the aggressor gradually — 
very gradually — lowers the victim to a position 
of lying flat on the back — and the feat has been 
performed. This is a somewhat trying move- 
ment, as the aggressor must employ a great 
deal of strength, and the entire exercise must 
be conducted with slowness and deliberation. 
Haste robs the work of all the benefit it would 
otherwise have. 

When the pupil must exercise by himself he 
may do so by making use of a substitute for 
the exercise just described. Let him lie flat on 
his back. His feet should be slightly spread, 
while his hands should rest on the floor a little 
above the shoulder-blades. When the right 
position has been acquired — and this will be 
ascertained after a few trials — let the pupil at- 
tempt to raise his body clear of the floor, rest- 
ing only upon his heels and hands. 

At first this will be all the student can do. 



88 Physical Training for Children 

By degrees, however, if the work is attempted 
moderately from time to time, the pupil will 
find that he can sustain his body in this posi- 
tion. When this stage of partial success has 
been reached, let him attempt to walk forward 
and backward on his heels and the palms of his 
hands. One or two steps in either direction 
will be enough for a beginning, but after a few 
days the healthy pupil will find that several 
steps can be covered in this way. 

Should the student oi jiu-jitsu prefer to make 
a somewhat easier beginning, he may lie face 
downward, using his toes and his hands on 
which to rise. Then follow with walking back- 
ward and forward, as in the preceding move- 
ment. But this face-downward form of the 
exercise, while it may be done once in a while, 
is rather too easy for the youth with a normally 
strong back. 

There is a form of back work, employed by 
some American athletes, which the author has 
never seen taught in a Japanese school, but is 
strictly in accordance w'xih. jiu-jitsu. It will be 
found of use to the student of this volume. 

Let the student stand with his back to a 



Strengthening the Back 89 

closed door, and a foot or more away from it. 
He should throw his hands back over his 
shoulders until they touch the door. Now, 
sliding his hands down the door a little way at 
a time, the pupil is able to bend over backward 
a little, and a little more, until his hands touch 
the floor. Resting here an instant, the pupil 
should raise himself to starting position by 
moving his hands upward against the door 
until he is able gradually to bring himself to 
starting position. 

When this movement has been repeated in 
several succeeding practice bouts, the pupil 
should prepare himself for the acme of this 
style of exercise. Let him stand out on the 
floor, away from the support of door or wall, 
and bend over in precisely the same manner, 
gaining all the aid he needs from his own mus- 
cles, especially those of the back. At first, it 
is well to use a mattress or other pad, but after 
a few trials the pupil will disdain any such aid 
to confidence, and will perform the feat easily 
and naturally on the hard floor, bending over 
backward slowly until his hands touch his heels, 
and then rising as gradually to erect position. 



90 Physical Training for Children 

The boy who performs this last stage of the 
feat successfully, and without hurry, need have 
no misgivings as to the strength of his back. 
Yet this statement must not be taken as mean- 
ing that the need of exercise for the back is 
past. Exercise for this part of the body, as 
well as for all others, should continue as long 
as life lasts. Yako, the famous Japanese in- 
structor of jiu-jitsu, took the exercises all 
through his life, from the time when he first 
started as a boy. Now, at nearly the age of 
eighty, he will go out upon the floor and van- 
quish the best of Japan's young experts in 
any kind of combat, and seemingly without 
effort. 

But it must be remembered that all of this 
back work is intended for the use of boys and 
girls in good health. Weakly pupils must be 
put through the exercises described in this 
chapter, if at all, with the greatest care on the 
part of instructor and companion. The exer- 
cises must be made very, very light indeed, for 
the naturally weak pupil. When very light 
work is undertaken, however, there is the cer- 
tainty that in time the sickly pupil will have a 



Strengthening the Back 91 

somewhat stronger back, and may then proceed 
to work that is a trifle harder. 

When there is any affliction of the back or 
the spine, the instructor or class teacher should 
call the parents' attention to the matter and 
urge that the family physician be asked to at- 
tend a practice bout in order to decide whether 
his little patient may do any of the back work ; 
and, if so, to prescribe just how strongly it 
should be done. 



CHAPTER VII 

DEEP BREATHING, FOOD, BATHING, AND 
CLOTHING— HOW ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO 
RUIN HEALTH AND SPOIL THE ATHLETE 

Perfect health is not gained, or kept, by 
physical exercise alone. Many other factors 
are needed in the building up of the body and 
in keeping it constantly at its best pitch. 

The vast importance of deep breathing has 
already been explained. Just how deep breath- 
ing is accomplished need not take up any of 
the space given to this chapter. Any pupil 
ought to be able to discover for himself how 
to breathe so deeply that the fresh air goes all 
the way down to the abdomen. This breath- 
ing should be performed without any percept- 
ible raising of the shoulders. Every physical 
trainer, and nearly every class teacher, can in- 
struct a class in the proper method of breath- 
ing. It is to be borne in mind that deep 
92 



Deep Breathing 93 

breathing is not to be employed merely when 
exercising, but at all times. 

On first rising in the morning throw the bed- 
room window wide open, if it has not been so 
all night, stand right at the window and spend 
quite a little time in taking deep breaths of 
the pure air of early morning. Do not sleep 
in a sealed room at night, but have one of the 
windows open, even if but a trifle, at top and 
bottom. 

Did any of you ever stop to notice closely a 
labourer working industriously with a pick or 
sledge-hammer? Every time he strikes he 
gives vent to a "huh! " If you ask him why 
he does this, probably the best reason he can 
give will be that it makes his work easier. So 
far he is right; the gasping-out of "huh!" 
does lessen the strain on his body, for instinct, 
rather than knowledge or reason, has taught 
him how to breathe deeply when engaged in 
laborious work. 

If any labourer will allow you to rest one 
hand on his abdomen while he swings the pick 
or sledge-hammer, you will be able to note 
how far he carries his deep breathing. 



94 Physical Training for Children 

It is not the author's purpose to go very 
deeply into the subject of food in this volume. 
The members of the Anglo-Saxon race are 
heavy users of meat, and are firm believers in 
three hearty meals a day. The Japanese, on 
the contrary, use very little meat, and cattle 
are comparatively rare in their country. The 
Japanese eat poultry to some extent, and eggs, 
but neither the fowl nor its product is eaten to 
the same extent as in the United States or in 
England. On account of the scarcity of cattle, 
milk and butter are but little used, although 
both are excellent foods. 

Rice is the staple food of Japan. Cooked 
in one form or another, it is served at every 
meal. Barley and beans are much used. Fish 
is eaten freely throughout the empire. When 
possible fresh fish is eaten, but dried fish is used 
also in every household. The waters that sur- 
round the Land of the Rising Sun yield a great 
variety and abundance of fish, and the people 
are so fond of this kind of flesh that fishing is 
one of their greatest industries. The foreign 
traveller, approaching the coast of Japan for 
the first time, is tempted to wonder if every 



Food 95 

family in the land does not own at least one 
fishing junk. 

Vegetables and fruits in Japan are about the 
same as those that we are in the habit of rais- 
ing, and of these the Japanese eat freely, both 
in the natural and in the cooked state. 

Light eating is the rule in Japan. An 
American or an Englishman is not likely to be 
satisfied with native Japanese meals until long 
practice has taught him the benefit of eating 
lightly. It is noteworthy that Japanese men 
and women who do heavy m.anual labour, and 
who have to carry the noon-day meal with 
them, do not eat heartily at the end of the 
morning's work. A little bit of cooked rice, 
some fruit, or something equally light, is eaten 
at noon, followed by a heartier meal at night 
after the day's toil is over. 

People of all classes in Japan drink very 
freely of water. At least a gallon a day is 
looked upon as a very proper amount to con- 
sume. This water is cool, but not iced. True, 
in Tokio, and in some of the other large cities 
where the foreigner has gained a foothold, there 
is considerable demand in summer for little 



9^ Physical Training for Children 

cupfuls of shaved ice covered with some fla- 
voured syrup — a mixture very similar to that 
abomination known to children in this country 
under the name of "snow-ball," But the great 
mass of Japanese people have yet to acquire 
the habit of eating such harmful stuff. 

Water is used most freely on the skin, for 
the Japanese are a nation of bathers. Nearly 
every man, woman, and child in the land 
has at least two baths a day, and in summer 
more baths than this are often taken. The 
Japanese inclines to hot baths — hotter than we 
could endure, but the cold bath is much en- 
joyed. In this country the best system of 
bathing calls for a cold bath every morning on 
rising. The bath should be of short duration, 
and should be followed by the brisk use of a 
coarse towel all over the skin. The warm bath 
should never be taken when one intends to go 
out-of-doors. The best time is at night, just 
before one is about to retire. Before leaving 
the tub, turn on the cold water, and remain in 
the bath until the water becomes as cold as can 
be endured. Then step out of the tub, rub 
down well, and go to bed. 



Bathing 97 

There are some constitutions that cannot 
stand a cold bath. Young people who are 
troubled in this way should turn a little hot 
water into the morning bath, but should take 
the bath just as near cold as possible. Tepid 
water will generally satisfy those who cannot 
endure an absolutely cold bath. Sooner than 
take a morning bath that is really warm, it is 
better to take a short sponge bath with cold 
or tepid water, this to be followed by brisk 
towelling. Students who start free perspira- 
tion by exercise out of school should take a 
sponge bath with a brisk rub-down, and, if the 
underclothing is not dry at the end of this 
bath, fresh underclothing should take its 
place. 

As for clothing, it should never be too heavy, 
nor yet too light to interfere with the normal 
temperature of the body. One should never 
wear clothing that makes him too warm, or 
chilly, when performing the ordinary move- 
ments of the body. The clothing should be 
as free and unrestricted as possible, in order 
that the air may have free passage over all por- 
tions of the skin. In mild weather, when one 



98 Physical Training for Children 

can do so unobserved from outside, it is well 
to imitate the Japanese by removing all of the 
clothing and taking an "air bath" by sitting 
naked for from half an hour to an hour. 
Reading, or any other occupation that does 
not call for bodily activity, may be taken up. 

Corsets are in such general use among Ameri- 
can women and girls that it seems almost hope- 
less to say a word against them Nevertheless 
they are a menace to our women who hope to 
obtain more symmetrical figures by the use of 
them. It ought to be enough to know that 
our artists, and students in our art schools, 
when painting the female figure, will never em- 
ploy a woman as a model if she wears corsets. 
The corseted figure does not, and cannot, come 
up to the requirements of art. 

Corsets should never be put on a girl in the 
first place. If she never wears them she will 
grow to womanhood with a much more per- 
fectly developed waist. Her vital organs, too, 
will have derived vastly more benefit through 
unrestricted breathing. The whole tone of 
health and of strength will be better if the girl 
never begins to wear corsets, and if she con- 



Clothing 99 

tinues to refrain from them after she reaches 
womanhood. 

Few Japanese women wear corsets, except 
those who belong at court, or to the families 
of high officials of the empire. These women 
are brought much into contact with European 
and American women, and consider it neces- 
sary to wear European dress, including the 
corset. And these Japanese women, when 
arrayed in all their foreign glory, and con- 
trasted with their more natural sisters of the 
lower classes, are the most grotesque spectacles 
imaginable. It is quite conceivable that, many 
and many a time, these high-born women 
hasten to their private apartments and revel in 
the unrestricted comforts of the native dress. 

Some of the Japanese women, who become 
somewhat imbued with the notion of the 
corset, improvise one of their own. A part 
of the Japanese native costume is the obi, or 
long, broad sash that is tied around the waist. 
Some women tie this sash so tight that its 
effect is that of a corset, but the practice has 
not gained much ground. 

In the use of alcohol the Japanese are most 

L.cfC 



loo Physical Training for Children 

temperate. Until the Americans opened Japan 
to the world the only form of alcoholic beverage 
known to the natives was a very mild rice wine 
known as sake. It would require a great quan- 
tity of this beverage to intoxicate one. Beer, 
liquor, and wines such as are known to us are 
seldom found in Japan to-day, outside of a few 
large cities where foreigners congregate and 
live. 

During his stay in Japan the author saw 
hundreds of white men who were intoxicated, 
but he did not see one drunken native. Even 
sake is not used as a daily beverage but is 
served in small quantities at ceremonials or on 
occasions of rejoicing, and the guests return 
home as sober as they came. The only Japan- 
ese who use alcohol frequently are the few who 
have thought it praiseworthy to imitate the 
foreigner's vicious habits. 

A few American scientists have attempted to 
prove that alcohol is to be regarded as a food. 
Their contention is based upon the claim that 
when alcohol is administered in small doses, 
and at not too frequent intervals, it is oxidised 
and taken into the system, producing heat and 




No. 17. 



LIFTING ONE CONTESTANT FROM A KNEELING TO AN ERECT 
POSITION — THE START. 



Bad Effects of Alcohol loi 

energy just as real food does. But real food 
strengthens the body, and leaves no after effect 
except a natural hunger by the time that the 
proper hour for the next meal has arrived. 
Alcohol, after its first effect has passed off, 
leaves the system, even when but small quan- 
tities are taken, in a state of depression. 

In the sense that we use food to build up 
and nourish the body, preparing it for the best 
and most continued efforts of which it is capa- 
ble, alcohol is nothing like a food. In medical 
works it is described as 2, poison, and this defi- 
nition exactly suits the case. Antidotes are 
given when too much poison is taken into the 
system. There is a long course of antidotal 
treatment for alcoholic poisoning. Did any one 
ever hear of antidotes for toast, milk, eggs, 
beans, broth, and the like? Twenty-five hun- 
dred years ago the Japanese were wiser on this 
subject than most of us are to-day. They in- 
vented a mild wine that could not intoxicate 
unless taken in enormous quantities ; they used 
it only on special occasions, and then in but 
small quantities. To-day, with the exception 
of a few who have become contaminated 



I02 Physical Training for Children 

through misplaced admiration for foreigners' 
evil ways, the Japanese are no nearer to drunk- 
enness than they were six hundred years before 
the dawn of the Christian era. 

When the author, through an interpreter, 
asked Yako San, the oldest and most noted 
jiu-jitsu instructor in Japan, what he thought 
of alcohol, his answer was: "Bad stuff; make 
man wild beast." Nor did the opinion of any 
other native teacher of jiujitsu differ on this 
point. Yako San, after nearly four-score years 
of life, averred that he hardly knew the taste 
of even sake. Serious students of jiu-jitsu in 
Japan look upon the smallest quantities of 
alcohol as a foe to perfect bodily condition, 
and few of them use it at all. In this country, 
when athletes are training for any event, the 
first move of the trainer is to cut off the use of 
alcohol and tobacco. 

Alcohol over-excites the heart ; it stabs the 
kidneys; it causes the liver to enlarge; it 
affects the respiration, and causes dimness of 
sight. It lessens the growth of healthy flesh 
tissue and of the bones. It affects the joints 
and thus causes gout. It weakens the whole 




No. 18. THE THROAT-HOLD THROW-OFF. 
An excellent exercise and a handy trick of self-defence. 



Bad Effects of Alcohol 103 

system, and leaves it a prey to disease. The 
indictment against alcohol could be made 
several times longer. Large volumes have 
been written that have been devoted wholly to 
descriptions of the evil effects of alcohol. 
Food does not create a craving that makes it 
necessary to constantly increase the allowance 
taken. The quantity of alcohol must be in- 
creased frequently, or else the effect that is 
sought is not obtained. A quantity of liquor 
that would keep a boy of sixteen grossly in- 
toxicated for twenty-four hours, and leave him 
very ill at the expiration of that time, is about 
the quantity that a sot finds it necessary to 
drink before breakfast in order that he may 
have some appetite for that meal. And, after 
a while, the drunkard finds that he can seldom 
eat, but that the fiery craving for alcohol is 
always with him. 

The use of beverages of this class utterly 
destroys the will-power of the user. There 
comes a time when reform is all but impossible. 
Several years ago the author served in Eastern 
and in Western cities as a reporter of police 
news for daily journals. Naturally he saw 



I04 Physical Training for Children 

much of the vicious and criminal classes. 
Without having any statistics at hand on the 
subject, the author is prepared to affirm that 
ninety-five per cent, of the crimes of violence 
that came under his notice were committed 
while the perpetrators were under the influence 
of alcohol. Only here and there was a criminal 
encountered who was not an habitual user of 
alcohol in its various forms. 

The drunkard starts with the first drink ! 
The boy or girl, man or woman, who has never 
taken the first sip of an alcoholic beverage — 
and who never will — is safe from one of the 
most blighting curses that has ever come upon 
humanity. 

Tobacco is not as dangerous as alcohol, but 
it was never intended to be absorbed into the 
human system. The Indian, who was the first 
grower of the weed, used it only for ceremonial 
purposes. When visitors came from another 
tribe on an amicable errand, the lighted pipe 
was passed to all who sat around the fire. 
Each took a few whiffs, and passed the pipe 
to his neighbour as a sign that peace hovered 
over the deliberations. The pipe was smoked 



Bad Effects of Tobacco 105 

in the same manner at the beginning of the 
councils of the tribe — and that was all. It re- 
mained for the white man to discover that to- 
bacco was to be smoked almost continuously 
during every day in the year. 

Like all true narcotics, tobacco, when used 
persistently, seeks out the weakest portions of 
the body and renders them weaker. The will- 
power becomes less and less as the existence 
of the tobacco habit lengthens. The heart is 
affected, and palpitation, or worse trouble, 
follows. The first few times that a boy smokes 
he is likely to be made deathly sick. That 
should show him the poisonous nature of the 
drug. But, after awhile, the boy finds that 
he is able to smoke with nausea at less frequent 
intervals. Tobacco is slow and insidious in its 
effects. One may smoke for years without 
discovering that he has done himself any harm. 
But let him try to break off the habit now. He 
finds that he cannot sleep ; his nerves have 
gone to pieces ; he is absolutely wretched until 
he takes up with tobacco again. And, if he 
takes it up again, he shortens the distance be- 
tween himself and the grave. 



io6 Physical Training for Children 

Tobacco has become the master ! No matter 
how much the man may pride himself on his 
stubborn will he cannot break the shackles that 
he has forged for himself at the tobacconist's. 
The only cure for the habit, now, is a long 
course of special treatment under circum- 
stances where he cannot get tobacco in any 
form. And, during the earlier period of the 
cure the tobacco-user will suffer torments that 
cannot be described. Insanity and death have 
been known to result from efforts to get rid of 
the long-fastened tobacco habit. 

In Japan there are millions of men and boys 
who do not use tobacco. Most of the men 
who do use it carry small pipes that contain 
only enough tobacco to afford three or four 
whiffs, and the pipe is used but a few times 
during twenty-four hours, but it must be ad- 
mitted that among the younger generation in 
the larger cities of Japan the American cigarette 
is creeping in to an extent that bodes no good 
to the future of the race. Many of the older 
statesmen of Japan are beginning already to 
concern themselves as to how the threatened 
tobacco evil may be curbed in their country. 




^ i 



E g 



< -S 



Bad Effects of Tobacco 107 

I asked a native guide of mine, in Tokio, if 
he used tobacco. 

"Why?" he asked in surprise. "I am 
studying. I wish to know something? Why 
spoil my brain and become fool? Why make 
my body weak when it is strong? Once, down 
at Yokohama, I saw some pigs. Some one 
offer them tobacco, but they not touch it. 
Why should I make myself worse than pig? " 



CHAPTER VIII 

FEATS FOR RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING THE 
WHOLE BODY OF THE ADVANCED STUDENT 

It is quite proper for one who has slowly, 
faithfully, and thoroughly mastered all the 
steps in jiu-jitsu that have already been laid 
down to style himself an advanced student — 
this with the proviso that, in addition to prac- 
tising all of the exercises sufficiently, he has 
followed out the suggestions that have been 
given for right living. 

In this chapter many exercises will be de- 
scribed, and will be very fully illustrated. 
None of these are exercises that an eager be- 
ginner should take up at the outset. If the 
beginner commits this blunder before his 
muscles have been sufficiently hardened by 
diligent practice at all of the foregoing feats, 
he will reap disappointment and muscular 

punishment. 

io8 




No. 21. BACK BENDING WITH RESISTANCE WHEN THE FORWARD DRAG 
IS ATTEMPTED — THE START. 



Strengthening the Body 109 

It will be noted that nearly all of the move- 
ments that are now to be described, work par- 
ticularly upon the muscles of the stomach, 
back, and abdomen. But they do more ; they 
exercise the entire body to a greater or less 
degree. The advanced student will find no 
difficulty in mastering rapidly all of the feats 
that are given in this chapter. If he has been 
taught to think as he exercises, the pupil will 
have no difficulty in comprehending just what 
good is derived from the performance of each 
movement. 

Only a glance is needed in order to under- 
stand what the two girls shown in photograph 
number seventeen are about to do, and the 
exercise need never be forgotten. The victim 
kneels, allowing her arms to hang limply at 
her sides. In fact, the whole pose of the vic- 
tim is one of limpness and inertness. The 
assailant does all of the work. The latter 
places her hands under the victim's shoulders, 
securing a good grip, and then the work begins. 
It is the assailant's task to drag the victim up- 
ward until she stands erect on her feet, the 
latter doing nothing beyond hanging as dead 



I lo Physical Training for Children 

weight. Breathing will be needed after this 
has been performed ; then victim and assailant 
change places and the feat is repeated. Once 
for each contestant is enough in a practice 
bout, although at home it may be practised 
many times in succession, provided deep 
breathing is done after each attempt, and if 
the work stops the instant that either student 
feels fatigued. 

Now comes a feat that will afford a little 
diversion from "dry" instruction. It is a per- 
formance that may be freely translated from 
the Japanese as the "throat-hold throw-off," 
and may be found handy by many a boy when 
he finds himself too severely pressed in defend- 
ing himself. It is really one of the lighter 
tricks of combat in jiu-jitsu, but as it enables 
a boy to defend himself without injuring his 
adversary it may be safely introduced here. 

Let the assailant seize his companion by the 
throat with both hands, taking pains, of course, 
not to employ a hold severe enough to strangle. 
The victim clasps his hands just below the ab- 
domen, throws both arms swiftly to the left, 
continuing the movement upward and over to 




No. 22. BACK BENDING WITH PUPILS SIDE BY SIDE AND HANDS CLASPED 
OVERHEAD. 



Strengthening the Body 1 1 1 

the right — and the throat-hold is broken as if 
by magic. In photograph number eighteen 
the victim is shown with his clenched hands up 
at his left and just in the act of throwing them 
well over to the right in trick of releasing him- 
self from his opponent's throat-hold. 

At first, until the idea has been thoroughly 
gained, which should not require more than 
three or four efforts on the part of each pupil, 
it is better that the work be done quickly, as 
if actual combat were on. But the greatest 
benefit in training is found when this throw- 
off is done slowly and with resistance on both 
sides. If any discomfort is caused by the 
throat-hold, the lapels of the victim's jacket 
may be seized instead, but in this case the as- 
sailant will have a hold that it will be much 
more difficult to dislodge. In this latter case 
it may be necessary for the assailant to yield 
gradually, the victim going through the move- 
ment in a very slow and decidedly resistant 
fashion. 

Another form of light combat work may be 
had by beginning with the back-of-the-head 
hold that is illustrated and described in Chapter 



112 Physical Training for Children 

VI. The assailant seizes his companion by 
this latter hold. The victim "ducks" down, 
liberating his head by a wriggle, and then rises 
quickly, seizing the assailant by the throat, 
the latter then employing the throw-off. At 
first this combination work should be done 
rapidly, until the whole idea is mastered. 
Then it should be done slowly and resistantly, 
with the exception of the taking of the holds, 
which should be done nimbly. 

An excellent form of drill for twisting the 
arms and bending the body is shown in photo- 
graph number nineteen, where the position at 
the finish is depicted. In this the victim ex- 
tends her left arm so that the hand is about 
on a line with the abdomen. The assailant 
seizes the proffered wrist with the right hand. 
At the start the victim's palm is downward. 
The assailant closes the fingers of her engaged 
hand over the back of the victim's wrist, the 
thumb pressing into the front of the wrist. A 
good grip must be taken. Now the assailant 
twists the victim's wrist upward, then over and 
outward, forcing the captured wrist down as 
near to the floor as is possible. After this the 




STRENUOUS WORK FOR DEVELOPING SHOULDER, BACK, AND 
ABDOMINAL MUSCLES. 



Strengthening the Body 113 

other hands are engaged in the same fashion, 
after which assailant and victim change places, 
and the work is repeated. 

The danger of taking up advanced work at 
too early a stage in the training may be well 
illustrated in the case of the exercise just de- 
scribed. It would be easy enough for the en- 
thusiastic beginner to learn how to do this last 
work, but what would be the result? The 
muscles of the wrist, as well as of the whole 
arm, would be lame and stiff afterwards. The 
sides would ache, and there would be soreness 
and pain in the back, especially at the lower 
end. The beginner who went through this 
drill a few times would feel like lying abed all 
next day. But for the advanced student this 
work can have no disagreeable features. His 
muscles are so hardened that he will find him- 
self able to perform the drill time after time in 
the same practice bout, and all without any 
other after effects than the addition to muscular 
strength. 

There is a companion movement that is illus- 
trated by photograph number twenty. Here 
the two contestants stand facing each other. 



114 Physical Training for Children 

and extend hands forward nearly horizontally, 
the victim proffering his left hand and the as- 
sailant seizing it with his right, the over-hand 
hold being taken as in the preceding exercise. 
Now the victim bends forward as far as he can 
go, the assailant bending with him. Next, the 
latter tries to lift the victim's hand upward to 
starting position, the latter resisting. When 
victory has been secured the assailant tries to 
force the victim's hand downward. Then the 
other two hands of the contestants are en- 
gaged, after which the roles of assailant and 
victim are reversed. In the execution of this 
feat it is permissible for the assailant to use 
the under-hand hold on his companion's wrist, 
but generally the preference should be given to 
the over-hand hold. 

In the next feat the contestants face each 
other, the victim with the left hand extended 
horizontally forward, and the assailant with 
the right in the same position. The hands^ 
palms downward, are clasped with fingers in- 
terlaced. Now, the victim bends slightly 
backward, throwing the engaged hand over 
until it rests on the shoulder blade, the assail- 




NO. 24. RESISTANT FEAT THAT EMPLOYS EVERY IMPORTANT MUSCLE 
IN THE BODY. 



Strengthening the Body 1 1 5 

ant bending slightly forward to accommodate 
the position. Now both of the engaged arms 
are held as tense as possible. The assailant 
drags the companion's captured hand up and 
over the head, and then forward. As a finish 
the assailant bends backward, pulling the con- 
testant forward. Then the other hands are 
engaged. It follows that, after these two 
movements, assailant and victim reverse places 
and repeat. All through this work the greatest 
possible muscular tenseness must be employed 
in the engaged arms, and the clasp of the hands 
must be firm — so firm that to a beginner the 
grip would seem to be crushing. The starting 
position is shown in photograph number 
twenty-one. 

Useful back bending may be accomplished 
by the strenuous use of the movement that 
photograph number twenty-two illustrates. 
In this the pupils stand side by side, or nearly 
so, and facing in opposite directions. The 
nearer hands are clasped overhead, with fingers 
interlaced. The assailant must bend the victim 
over backward as far as the latter can go, the 
victim employing all possible resistance. Then 



ii6 Physical Training for Children 

the victim rises gradually, and forces the assail- 
ant to starting point. Or, the movement may 
be carried farther by the victim, on regaining 
erect position, forcing the assailant over. Then 
the other arms of each must be similarly em- 
ployed. As much of this work as time will 
permit should be introduced into nearly every 
practice bout at first, and pupils should be 
urged to repeat it during recess time. 

It is a strenuous bit of work, intended espe- 
cially for developing the shoulder, back, and 
abdominal muscles, that is shown in photo- 
graph number twenty-three. At the beginning 
the pupils stand facing each other. The victim 
bends her head and shoulders slightly forward 
in order to aid her companion in securing the 
proper hold. This hold is rightly taken when 
the assailant crosses her right arm, as close to 
the shoulder as possible, over the back of the 
victim's neck from the latter's right side. The 
assailant's arms are thrust under the victim's 
shoulders, and the former's hands clasped in 
front of the victim. Care must be taken, in 
securing the starting position, that the aggres- 
sor's right arm is over the back of the com- 




No. 25. ATTACK ON THROAT AND CHEST -STRONG RESISTANT 



WORK. 



Strengthening the Body 117 

panion's neck, and not allowed to cross lower 
down, as at the shoulder-blades or on the back. 

As soon as the position has been rightly 
secured the assailant begins to bend slowly 
downward, forcing the companion forward 
toward the floor, the latter all the while firmly 
resisting the downward pressure. The first 
half of the movement ends when the assailant 
has sunk down upon one knee. The second 
half begins when the victim starts to rise, ham- 
pered by the aggressor's dead weight, and ends 
when starting position has been reached. Then 
the victim turns assailant, and the movement 
is gone through with once more. 

It is to be urged upon the instructor, and to 
be impressed upon the monitors that nearly all 
the benefit is to be derived from starting right, 
with the assailant's upper right arm across the 
back of the victim's neck. Nor is the position 
of this arm to be allowed to shift at any stage 
of the movement. 

Next in order should be the exercise that 
photograph number twenty-four makes clear. 
Here the two contestants face each other, the 
victim allowing his hands to hang limply at his 



ii8 Physical Training for Children 

sides. The aggressor throws his right arm 
around the small of the other's back, at the 
same time using his left wrist to press against 
the victim's throat. The latter pupil is now 
forced over backward as far as may be done, 
and then the victim returns to erect position 
against the resistance of the assailant. The 
assailant's hands are used in the reverse way in 
the next attack, and then the victim turns as- 
sailant and exercises both sides of the new vic- 
tim's body. 

There is a variation of this work in which 
the assailant stands facing his victim's side — 
either side. The right hand is thrown around 
the farther side of the victim's waist, the left 
wrist against the nearer side of the victim's 
neck, and a side bend is forced, similar in all 
other respects to the back bend. 

Photograph number twenty-five illustrates 
work in the same class. The contestants face 
each other, the victim steadying herself by 
resting her hands on the aggressor's hips. 
Necessarily the contestants are at close quar- 
ters. The assailant places the outer edge of 
her right forearm against the throat of the 




No. 26. NECK AND BACK MOVEMENT CALLING FOR MUCH RESISTANCE. 



Strengthening the Body 119 

victim, and the edge of the left forearm against 
the victim's chest. Back bending, with the 
return of the victim to starting point, and 
with abundant resistance on the part of both 
pupils, finishes the exercise, after which the 
use of the arms is reversed, and then the victim 
turns assailant for two more of the movements. 
Next in order comes a neck and back move- 
ment that calls for strong resistance. As is 
shown in photograph number twenty-six, the 
assailant stands behind the victim. He takes 
hold of the latter with his finger-tips pressing 
on the throat and the thumbs pressing in the 
back of the neck just at the base of the skull. 
As soon as this hold has been obtained the 
victim bends forward, without resistance, to 
the position that the photograph depicts. 
Now begins the work. The victim tries to re- 
main bending forward, but the assailant en- 
deavours to pull him over backward as far as 
he can. When victory has been achieved the 
victim attempts to bring himself slowly and 
stubbornly back to the position illustrated. 

Then vary the exercise by having the con- 
testants face each other. The aggressor takes 



I20 Physical Training for Children 

hold by pressing his thumbs against the victim's 
throat, and the finger-tips resting at the back 
of the neck just at the base of the skull. The 
victim is allowed to bend backward, then, re- 
sisting, is pulled forward and over. The vic- 
tim then returns, the assailant resisting, until 
the victim is bending well over backward. 

One of the most difficult of all the feats of 
this class, when the opponents are fairly 
matched, is that which photograph number 
twenty-seven illustrates. Again the pupils 
stand facing each other. The assailant places 
his hands firmly over the victim's shoulders. 
The aggressor's finger tips must take firm hold 
back of the shoulder, while the thumbs press in 
at the front. Now the assailant is expected to 
force the victim down, the latter stubbornly 
resisting, until he is compelled to sink upon 
one knee. This is by no means an easy per- 
formance for the assailant. 

Then comes work that is equally difficult for 
the victim. Without any aid from his hands 
he must force his way to a standing position, 
and the aggressor gives him very stubborn 
opposition. It is easy for the assailant, now, 




No. 27. FORCING THE VICTIM TO ONE KNEE, AND THEN, AFTER RISING, 
TO THE OTHER KNEE. 



Strengthening the Body 121 

and correspondingly hard for the companion 
who is trying to rise. 

From the foregoing it is possible to evolve 
several other exercises, but it must be borne 
in mind that all must be strictly in conformity 
with jiu-jitsu principles. In other words, the 
same sets of muscles must be exercised, and in 
the same degree, and there must be obstinate 
resistance on the part of both contestants. 
The pupils who lead the class in this Japanese 
athletic work may be depended upon to hit 
upon some novel and effective substitutes, and 
the instructor should do all in his power to en- 
courage this line of thought and invention of 
substitute exercises. 

At this stage of the work, too, pupils should 
be encouraged to try the feats as actual tests 
of comparative strength. 

A few trials will enable any student to select 
the companion who comes nearest to being his 
physical equal. Then there is great sport in 
store for all who have made right use of the 
training through the school year. 

As the summer begins pupils who live near 
bodies of water where bathing is permitted 



122 Physical Training for Children 

will find jiu-jitsu a perpetual source of amuse- 
ment if the more difficult feats are performed 
on shore in the intervals between bathing. 
Two or three determined struggles between 
well-matched contestants, then a dip and a 
short swim, to be followed by more Japanese 
work and more swimming. There is a zest to 
the work than cannot be had when the entire 
body is covered with clothing. 

Yet one caution must be given. When this 
work is attempted at the edge of stream or 
lake, there must be a full amount of deep 
breathing before the return to the water is 
made. Nor should any contestant return to 
the water if he feels the slightest cramp or 
strain in any of his muscles. 

When the swim and the various struggles 
are through with, and each student has had a 
brisk rub-down and has dressed himself, he 
feels refreshed, exhilarated, and ready for any- 
thing that calls for the effective employment 
of muscle. There is a feeling of real, new life ! 



CHAPTER IX 

MORE ABOUT RESISTANCE OF MUSCLES — EXER- 
CISES THAT EMPLOY IT TO THE UTMOST 
— SUMMER OUT-DOOR SPORTS 

Before passing on to a description of ad- 
ditional feats for use by two contestants the 
author wishes to go back to that vital principle 
oi jiu-jitsu, the proper and emphatic resistance 
of one set of muscles by another. This may 
be accomplished best, of course, when there 
are two students working together, but there 
are numerous resistant exercises that may be 
performed by the student when he is obliged 
to work alone. 

This idea may be simply explained if the 
student will clench his fists, cross the insides of 
his wrists, and hold his hands at the right hip. 
Now, the drill calls for the hands to move up- 
ward toward the face, up over the head, and 
down to the left hip. At the start the right 
123 



124 Physical Training for Children 

wrist must be underneath, and it continues so 
up to the finish at the left hip. And here is 
where the resistance comes in : The right wrist 
must force the left wrist up until the overhead 
position has been passed. The left wrist must 
resist by a downward pressure against the right. 
After the overhead position has been passed 
the left wrist takes up role of assailant until 
the left hip is reached, and it will not take the 
bright pupil many seconds to understand why 
this is so. 

On the return movement from the left hip, 
overhead and down to the right hip, the left 
wrist is first victim and then aggressor. But, 
if this exercise is reversed, and the start is 
made from the left hip, with the right wrist on 
top, then the left wrist becomes the aggressor 
at the start and then victim. 

In raising and lowering the arm two different 
sets of muscles are employed — one for raising, 
and the other for lowering. Here is an excel- 
lent opportunity for resistant muscle work. 
Let the right arm hang at the side, clenching 
the fist. Tense the arm as rigidly as possible. 
Now, bring the fist up until the upper arm ex- 



Resistance of Muscles 125 

tends horizontally forward and the forearm is 
perpendicular to it — in other words, that 
favourite with boys when "showing muscle." 
But, while bringing the arm up with all of the 
muscle energy possible, resist the upward pres- 
sure by a corresponding pressure downward. 
That is, while striving hard to bring the arm up 
by one set of muscles, strive almost as hard to 
make the arm stay down through the employ- 
ment of the other set of muscles. If the work 
is done thoroughly and intensely the fist will 
tremble and shake, at first, as it is being 
brought up. But it is splendid work for the 
arms, and rapidly makes the muscles more 
"like steel." 

Exercise the left arm in the same way. If 
at this stage of the training the left arm has 
not become the muscular equal of the right 
arm, give the left arm rather more of this work 
than the right receives. When the principle 
of this arm work is thoroughly understood 
both arms may be employed at the same time. 
There are many other ways in which similar 
work can be performed. For instance, hold 
one clenched fist, or both out sideways and on 



126 Physical Training for Children 

a level with the hips. Bring the arm, or arms, 
up sideways, resisting the upward pressure by 
a downward one. Or, start with clenched fist, 
or fists overhead, and bring the arm, or arms 
downward, either in front or sideways, keeping 
the knuckles of the fist uppermost. Return to 
starting position with the resistance reversed. 
Stand with arm, or arms, horizontally forward, 
fists clenched. Swing arms as far backward as 
they will go, but do not move the trunk of the 
body. Resist the backward movement of the 
arm, or arms, by a forward pressure. Return 
to starting position, resisting the forward 
movement by a strenuous pressure backward. 

Clasp right and left hands, fingers interlaced, 
just in front of the heart. Pull the left hand 
over to a corresponding spot in front of the 
right chest, but use so much resistance with 
the left hand that the right hand has to do its 
hardest work. Then pull the right hand back 
to starting position, and reverse the resistance. 
With fingers again interlaced, let the clasped 
hands rest in front of the abdomen. Employ 
the right hand in pulling the left up to a level 
with the top of the head, then return to start- 




No. 28. TWISTING EACH OTHER'S WRISTS OUTWARD AND INWARD. 
There are three excellent forms of this exercise. 



Resistance of Muscles 127 

ing point, with drag and resistance reversed. 
In all of these exercises keep the muscles of 
the arms as tense as is possible. Much de- 
pends on the tenseness of every muscle in the 
arms. 

I have offered suggestions enough, now, for 
resistant muscle work that the pupil may carry 
out by himself. If he makes an intelligent 
study of them he will have as perfect an idea 
of the resistance of muscles as can be obtained. 
He can improvise many other exercises to 
which the same principle applies. 

Now we will pass on to advanced exercises in 
which two pupils contest. Photograph number 
twenty-eight shows wrist twisting. The as- 
sailant has clasped her' left hand around the 
victim's right wrist, the engaged hand of 
each, at the outset, being about on a level 
with the chest. The assailant twists the com- 
panion's wrist a trifle upward and outward, do- 
ing it smartly and firmly, and the victim, of 
course, resists this attack. Then the assailant 
twists the other's wrist slightly upward, over 
and inward. Next, the other hands are en- 
gaged in the same manner. 



128 Physical Training for Children 

There are really three forms of this exercise. 
Both hands of each contestant may be em- 
ployed at once, the assailant grasping each of 
the victim's opposing wrists at the same time, 
and twisting them outward and inward. The 
third form of the exercise is where the con- 
testants cross forearms and the double hold is 
taken by the assailant, whose right hand now 
grasps the victim's right wrist, and the left 
hand the other's left wrist. The same out- 
ward and inward twisting of the victim's wrists 
is performed. 

It is in fact, possible to extend this work to 
nine movements. The arm or arms, may be 
held slantingly upward in front of the body, 
with the hands a little above the top of the 
head, and all three of the exercises suggested 
may be gone through with in this position. 
Or, the hand, or hands, may be held forward, 
a little below the abdomen and the same work 
can be executed. But the first three move- 
ments, with the engaged hands held chest- 
high, are to be given the preference, the other 
forms to be used only to vary the monotony 
of exercise. 




No. 29. RESISTANT NECK WORK, 



Resistance of Muscles 129 

The two girls shown in photograph number 
twenty-nine are practising what is known as 
resistant neck work. Each leans forward 
slightly toward the other. Each may seize 
the other by clasping hands at the small of 
the other's back, or one may employ this clasp 
and the other may take hold of the compan- 
ion's shoulders. The head of each is bent 
decidedly forward, and each must use the left 
side of her neck in crossing the left side of the 
other's neck. The necks nitist cross. For one 
contestant to press the cheek against the 
other's will not suffice. 

Now the contestants, without resistance, 
bend the heads over to one side. The one 
whose head is lower becomes the assailant, and 
endeavours to press the victim's head com- 
pletely over to the other side. When this has 
been done the vanquished one turns assailant, 
and the work, with strong resistance, is carried 
back to starting point. This exercise is one 
that should be repeated frequently, and, by 
this time, the students should be able to per- 
form the feat in a vimful way that would tire 

beginners at the first attempt. 
9 



I30 Physical Training for Children 

There is but one variation to this work that 
is of any value. Let the assailant stand with 
her right side in front of the victim. The ag- 
gressor seizes the victim with both arms around 
the latter's waist and hands clasped at the vic- 
tim's right side. Now the aggressor bends her 
head and presses the right side of her neck 
firmly against the victim's throat. The victim 
is allowed to bend her head well forward with- 
out resistance. When this position has been 
taken the assailant forces the victim's head 
erect, continuing the movement by pushing 
the head as far backward as it can be made to 
go. When this point has been reached the 
victim turns assailant; and forces the com- 
panion back to starting point. 

It will be understood that, when the assailant 
prefers, position may be taken with the left 
side toward the victim, the assailant's hands 
being clasped at the former's left side. It is 
well to exercise both sides in turn. 

The next feat to be described is one in which 
success is rather difficult, but it should be pos- 
sible to the advanced student. The two con- 
testants stand side by side, but facing in 




No. 30. A DIFFICULT SHOOLDER-TO-SHOULDER STRUGGLE. 



Resistance of Muscles 131 

opposite directions. The arms of the contest- 
ants that are between the bodies hang at the 
sides. The two opposing hands are clasped 
tightly, and the opposing arms and shoulders 
are pressed against each other. While the 
muscles of the engaged arms are to be tensed 
from one end of the arm to the other, the 
greatest tenseness must be at the wrists. 
There must be stiff pressure between the en- 
gaged shoulders. 

As soon as the position has been properly 
secured the assailant must press and twist the 
head and trunk of the victim over sideways. 
As soon as the latter has been pushed over as 
far as he can be made to go, the victim be- 
comes assailant and executes a similar move- 
ment against his companion. Photograph 
number thirty explains the exercise. 

Then, by way of variation, let the assailant 
place the front of his shoulder against the front 
of the victim's shoulder, the position in all 
other respects being the same as in the last 
exercise. The movement to be executed now 
is a backward and forward swaying movement, 
with much resistance on both sides. Each 



132 Physical Training for Children 

contestant is to be forced backward as far as 
possible, and then forces his companion back- 
ward. This drill may be carried on continu- 
ously until each contestant has been made to 
bend backward several times, but it should 
be done slowly, with all possible strength of 
aggression and of resistance. 

Among the last of the exercises to be de- 
scribed is one in which the travel and pivot are 
again employed. As is shown in photograph 
number thirty-one, the assailant stands side- 
ways in front of the victim. The former 
throws the nearer arm around the latter' s 
neck, taking what is known in ordinary speech 
as a tight hug. 

As in nearly all other pivotal work the victim 
stands with her heels together and the feet at 
an angle of forty-five degrees. When the posi- 
tion has been taken the assailant begins to 
walk slowly around the victim, forcing the 
latter to pivot, although with determined re- 
sistance. When the assailant uses the left arm 
for the hug the travel is taken around at the 
victim's left, and vice versa. Both arms of the 
assailant must be used in this fashion before 




No. 31. TRAVELLING AND PIVOTING WITH THE NECK-HOLD. 



Resistance of Muscles 133 

the victim turns aggressor and repeats the 
work. In this work all of the benefit depends 
upon the amount of resistance that the victim 
is able to give. The utmost limit of opposi- 
tion must be employed. In this feat the assail- 
ant has the natural advantage, for which the 
victim must make up by the use of stubborn 
resistance. 

Now comes the acme of all of th.e Jiu-jitsu 
preliminary training work. Again the pole is 
called into use, and, in order that the full idea 
of this drill may be acquired it will be necessary 
to take a long look at photograph number 
thirty-two. This drill should never be at- 
tempted by a pupil who has not gained com- 
plete mastery of all the exercises that go 
before. 

One contestant stands behind the other. 
The pupil in front takes the pole and allows it 
to rest over either the right or the left shoulder, 
seizing the pole with the hand belonging to 
the same side of the body. The pupil in the 
rear employs both hands to grasp the pole. 
At first the pupil who has the single-hand hold 
is allowed to bend forward, after which the 



134 Physical Training for Children 

contestant in the rear endeavours to pull his 
companion over backward. In the next drill 
the pupil in front bends over backward, and 
then against the resistance of the other, at- 
tempts to bend forward. If it looks as if the 
contestant with the two-hand hold had the 
advantage the leverage afforded by the other 
contestant's shoulder must be taken into con- 
sideration, and will be proven quickly when 
the work is begun. Both shoulders of one 
contestant should be exercised thoroughly in 
this fashion before victim and assailant change 
places. 

Such work would produce sad lameness in 
a beginner's shoulders, but to the advanced 
student, who should have broad, sturdy shoul- 
ders, covered with layers of well-developed 
muscles, the drill will be mere sport. 

As the school year nears its close, and the 
early summer comes on, it is but natural for 
the Anglo-Saxon boy to long for the out-door 
games and sports that belong to the season. 
Nearly all of these are highly beneficial, and 
work for the promotion of health. But the 
boy who has faithfully and honestly studied 




.tirf' 



"? 
M 



Resistance of Muscles 135 

and applied his jiu-jitsu training throughout 
the school year will be astonished at finding 
how superior he is, physically, to the boy of 
his own size and weight who has not had the 
advantage of the same training. Th.Q jiujitsu 
boy will find himself an athlete whom it is hard 
for one of his own size to beat. 

And, besides being stronger and having more 
agility and endurance, \h& jiu-jitsu student will 
find that all of his faculties that have to do 
with physical exertion have been so vastly im- 
proved that he picks up any new game or sport 
requiring bodily strength, speed, and lightness 
much faster than he did before he took up the 
Japanese style of training. 

In so far as they can practise sports and 
games followed by the boys, the girls who 
have been faithful to their instructor will dis- 
cover the same seemingly marvellous results. 
Any form of endurance that a girl is called 
upon to exhibit will be manifest at the end of 
a school year's instruction m. jiu-jitsu. 

Of all out-door sports for the summer season 
the two best are rowing and swimming. Both 
call for strong resistance to the muscles, and 



136 Physical Training for Children 

therefore are strictly in line with jiu-jitsu. 
Unless accompanied by older persons who are 
thoroughly at home in the water no boy should 
attempt to row until he knows how to swim 
well. There are many boys who do not know 
how to swim. Such a boy should be regarded 
as a freak, and treated with derision by his 
comrades. The boy of eight who cannot learn 
readily how to swim, when the opportunity to 
learn exists, is almost certain to be a physical 
coward. Physical cowardice seldom exists 
when a sound, well-trained body has brought 
out self-confidence. 

Make the boy or girl strong, and see that 
self-confidence is developed to the highest 
pitch, and swimming will become as easy of 
attainment to the subject as it is to a dog or a 
beaver. The boy or girl who learns at eight, 
and who has frequent opportunities for practice 
afterward, should be able, by the time that the 
age of ten is reached, to swim from four to six 
hundred strokes without fatigue. 

In rowing, it is strongly advised that, as 
soon as rowing with one hand has been mas- 
tered, the pupil always afterward make it a 



Summer Out-Door Sports 137 

point to pull two oars. This balances the 
strength of the body, and brings every muscle 
into important play. The boy or girl who has 
the opportunity should make a point of row- 
ing at least an hour every day, the first hours 
of daylight affording the best time for this 
exercise. 

Base-ball, cricket, and golf are among the 
best of out-door exercises, the latter being 
especially desirable work, as it forces the em- 
ployment of the very valuable exercise of walk- 
ing. Tennis is an ideal game, for it trains the 
brain and the eye and makes for the agility of 
the body. From a physical point of view 
croquet is a very stupid and unimportant 
game, its only claim to recognition being that 
it takes the player into the open air, and all 
the other games and sports do this and more. 

On the subject of walking a whole chapter 
could be written by itself. The boy who can- 
not walk distances that most boys nowadays 
regard as being very great need not look upon 
himself as being a real athlete. Many a boy 
or girl will gasp when I state that an ordinary 
distance for a day's tramp should be fifteen 



138 Physical Training for Children 

miles. Begin in moderation — say five miles a 
day, at first, and gradually add to this until it 
is found possible to make fifteen miles between 
sunrise and sunset without the least feeling of 
fatigue. 

When this point has been reached there is 
rare sport in store for boys who love to be 
out-of-doors and to show that they are strong 
and enduring. Let a band of boys get to- 
gether for a two-day tramp. Starting soon 
after sunrise, and each carrying enough food 
for the trip, and a water-bottle, let the march 
be started for some farming town that is known 
to be fifteen miles distant. Half of the dis- 
tance should be covered in the forenoon, and 
there should be a rest of considerable duration 
in the heat of the middle of the day. If there is 
a place for bathing at the halting point, a brief 
rest should be taken, then a short swim, and 
after that the noon meal. The afternoon part 
of the day's tramp should wind up at some 
farm-house. A lot of tidy, well-behaved boys, 
each of whom can contribute ten cents, will 
find the farmer willing enough to give them 
deliciously soft beds on his hay-mow. 



Summer Out-Door Sports 139 

In the morning, if there is a swimming-place 
handy, there should be an early dip, followed 
by breakfast and the beginning of the tramp 
home. After awhile the boys will find them- 
selves well able to face a three-day tramp, cov- 
ering each day fifteen miles. Girls, properly 
escorted and guarded, should be able to build 
up to the same point of endurance. 

In Japan the students are sent out frequently 
for a tramp lasting a week or a fortnight. 
It is to them a period of sheer enjoyment, 
yet they frequently go twenty or more miles 
in a day. In a country as rich in history as 
Japan is there are many points to be visited 
and studied. There are shrines and temples, 
scenes of famous battles, industrial centres to 
be visited, rare landscape gardens to be in- 
spected, and a host of treats of all kinds for 
the trampers. Sights of great interest are to 
be found by parties of boy and girl pedestrians 
in this country. As horses and cattle are 
somewhat rare in Japan the hay-mow does not 
offer itself as a lodging place there, but the 
students are allowed to sleep in temples and 
monasteries, and in public buildings. The 



HO Physical Training for Children 

Japanese do not go in much for sprinting or 
long-distance running, but the soldiers of the 
empire have an odd march in double-time that 
resembles a dog-trot, and students on the road 
often break into this step and keep it up for at 
least two or three miles. 

Every boy and girl should get all of the 
glorious good that is possible from out-door 
life in summer. But jiu-jitsu should not be 
neglected for other forms of activity. All of 
the exercises that have been taught should be 
gone over during a fixed period each day, and 
it should be the aim of the young student to 
have the exercises selected for a given practice 
bout harmonise toward a definite result to be 
gained that day. The advanced student will 
know how to choose feats that are in keeping 
each with the other. 



CHAPTER X 

MUSCLE-BOUND AMERICAN ATHLETES—MIS- 
TAKES THAT THE JAPANESE AVOID — 
LAST WORDS TO PUPILS 

One of the evil results that frequently at- 
tend the work done in American and British 
college gymnasiums is that many a promising 
athlete, after a brief, brilliant career as a 
muscular marvel, finds himself muscle-bound. 
Then he is obliged to drop out of athletic 
events and give place to younger and less- 
experienced athletes who will, in time, suffer 
from the same misfortune. 

What is that condition known as being 
muscle-bound? It is a strange affliction, and 
might be called, with justice, a malady. The 
muscles become larger, and, at first glance, 
suggest tremendous power. But their real 
power has gone. The vital principle of elas- 
ticity is lacking in such muscles. 

The cause? The most common one is excess 
141 



142 Physical Training for Children 

of training. The college or other young man 
who is trying to make a strong man of himself 
does not stop when all his physical indications 
point to the fact that he has had exercise 
enough for one day. He is training for endur- 
ance, and believes that he is securing it through 
doing a great amount of heavy exercise in one 
bout. The muscles are sadly over-taxed. 
True, they grow larger, but at the expense of 
that elasticity without which muscle is of little 
value. 

Your American athlete will proudly double 
his arm and show you great knots of muscle. 
The upper arm, especially, is "bumpy." 
Thick, swelling pads of muscles adorn his 
back. They are found on his upper leg and 
thigh. If this man is addicted to excessive 
exercise, watch him for a few years, and you 
will find that he no longer takes pride in his 
condition. He has joined the ranks of the 
muscle-bound. 

There is another cause of this unhappy phy- 
sical state that does not receive as much atten- 
tion as it should. Muscle-binding often starts 
in the practice of feats that pull too heavily on 



Muscle-Bound Athletes 143 

the tissues. The result of such work is a slight 
tearing of the muscle. It may feel stiff and 
sore, but not enough so to warn the young 
athlete that he should rest, and that he should 
exercise more lightly when he resumes. Na- 
ture does her best to repair these slight tears, 
and the result is a slight unbalancing of the 
injured muscles that, in time, works serious 
mischief. Were the young athlete to tear one 
of the ligaments of a leg so seriously that he 
could not move about, except on crutches, he 
would accept the warning, but the slightly 
torn muscle goes unheeded. 

The Japanese athlete does not exercise as 
severely as does his American counterpart. 
Preliminary training in jiu-jitsu involves no 
serious danger to muscles, tendons, or liga- 
ments. All of these parts are strengthened by 
the work. True, the Japanese, when he has 
reached the stage of advanced combat work, 
sometimes has occasion to tear a ligament, 
"break" a muscle, or snap a tendon, and he 
does it with the speed of lightning, leaving 
his opponent helpless. But this is done only 
when a master oi jiu-jitsu finds it necessary in 



144 Physical Training for Children 

defending himself. In learning these tricks of 
combat no part of the body is ever injured ; in 
the feats that are intended simply for the train- 
ing of the muscles the Japanese employs far 
less than his full strength. It is only when 
making comparative tests of strength and en- 
durance with another student that the Japanese 
employs his full strength. 

As a result graduates la jiu-jitsu do not know 
what it is to become muscle-bound. Yako, 
the grand old instructor of Japan, now nearly 
four-score years of age, and still an instructor 
and exhibitor, when asked by the author about 
muscle-binding, looked puzzled. He had 
heard about such things from foreign visitors, 
but had never seen a case. He had but the 
vaguest comprehension of the subject, but 
asked many eager questions, shaking his head 
slowly as the answers were translated to him. 
Yet Yako San has been one of the most 
famous instructors in Japan ever since he left 
his teens. Every day he is on the floor, exer- 
cising as often as it is necessary to take hold 
of a pupil, and he has never known what it 
was to be muscle-bound. 



Mistakes Japanese Avoid 145 

Inouye San, another noted instructor, known 
throughout the length and breadth of the em- 
pire, is now a man well past forty, who has 
trained thousands of students. For months 
at a stretch he has spent from ten to twelve 
hours a day on the floor of his school, exercis- 
ing almost continuously with pupils. He is a 
short man, of compact, solid build. His flesh 
is so hard that it suggests iron ; it is impossible 
to make any impression upon it. He can 
smile at a blow in the face that would carry an 
American athlete off his feet. Yet Inouye 
San is not muscle-bound, never has been, and 
never will be. He understands the parts of 
his body and their uses too well to abuse the 
most insignificant of them. He will take hold 
of an opponent as gently as if he were hand- 
ling an infant — and the next instant that op- 
ponent is on his back on the floor, uninjured 
and unable to comprehend why or how he fell. 

It is true that in some of the exercises de- 
scribed in foregoing chapters the pupil has 
been directed to use all, or nearly all of his 
strength in the contest. But when this advice 
has been o-iven the feats are of a nature that 



146 Physical Training for Children 

will not result in binding the muscles even if 
full strength be employed. And it must be 
remembered, too, that none of these move- 
ments are used day after day, but only at 
intervals in the work. 

In general it should be borne in mind that, 
while the exercises are to be executed with 
vim and snap, it is not wise to use one's 
strength up to the limit of endurance. He 
who exercises firmly, but with only a wise 
expenditure of strength, will have sound and 
reliable muscles that will never become bound, 
but which, in the moment of need or emer- 
gency, will respond to demands upon them to 
their fullest power. 

The author has been asked frequently what 
part track athletics play in Japanese physical 
training. Strictly speaking, they play no part 
whatever. Track athletics, as we understand 
them, were unknown in Japan until that coun- 
try came in contact with the Anglo-Saxon 
peoples. But the graduate of a Japanese 
school is in splendid trim to pick up the track 
work quickly and effectively if he so chooses. 
So far, however, the Japanese have made no 



Mistakes Japanese Avoid 147 

track records in this country, and that because 
of their lukewarm interest in such sports. There 
are many Japanese in our colleges who, if they 
would set their minds seriously on the subject, 
would soon show some surprising track work. 
But the Japanese is content with his own 
ancient and long-developed system of bodily 
training. He is aware of its superiority, and 
has only to see the kind of work that our 
athletes do, and its results, to convince him 
that he will continue to be satisfied with jiu- 
jitsu. Japanese men are decidedly the reverse 
of boastful. They do not care for display. 
Hence they do not care for our gymnasium or 
track work, and when an American athlete, or 
his British brother, contends that our system 
is the best in the world, the Japanese smiles 
and answers, "Oh, yes, certainly." 

It is not to be gained from the foregoing 
that the American youth is to be dissuaded 
from taking up track athletics. Far from it. 
The Olympian games should be attempted by 
every healthy youth, but they should never 
be made, at any stage of athletic work, the 
whole of the training during that period. Even 



148 Physical Training for Children 

while track work is being practised, the young 
athlete who has had the muscle-training oi jiu- 
jitsu should keep up the latter work, and 
should not allow it to become secondary to the 
track. For girls, too, a very fair amount of 
track work is advisable. 

Let the student of jiu-jitsu be not discour- 
aged if, at the end of a school year faithfully 
devoted to bouts of the work, he is unable to 
show an arm twice the size it was at the be- 
ginning of the course. It is to be remembered 
that a large and knotty, "bumpy" arm is not 
the surest indication of strength. Muscular 
power is tested best by the force with which a 
blow can be struck, and by hauling and lifting 
capacity. The average Japanese graduate in 
jiu-jitsu, while certain to be a powerful and 
enduring little man, will show a rather small 
arm, especially above the elbow. It is to the 
forearm that the greatest effort is directed. 
As the work goes on this lower part of the arm 
should increase both in size and in hardness. 

The observing pupil can discover for himself 
how he is being benefited as the course goes 
on. From time to time he should tense either 



Mistakes Japanese Avoid 149 

arm, and feel all of the principal muscles from 
the wrist to the elbow. After a few weeks the 
wrist should be very firm. If it is not, increase 
the amount of resistant wrist exercise. From 
the wrist on up to the elbow the principal 
muscles should stand out when the arm is 
tensed, and these muscles should grow harder 
every week, even though the forearm be small 
even to the point of delicate appearance. 

At the same time the muscles of the leg 
should be watched. Both the upper and lower 
leg, when tensed, should feel "as hard as 
rocks." If the exercises are taken frequently 
enough, and in strict accordance with the 
directions, these results in the arms and legs 
should be highly gratifying after a few weeks 
of practice. 

In the back, too, good results should be 
looked for at about this time. When the arms 
are doubled, with the clenched fists close to 
the shoulders, with arms tense and elbows 
thrown well back, the muscles that run down- 
ward between the shoulder-blades (known to 
anatomists as the rhomboid muscles) should 
stand out prominent and hard, and the scapular 



150 Physical Training for Children 

muscles, running over the shoulder-blades, 
should show up well, though not as heavily as 
the rhomboid muscles. At the small of the 
back there will be no particular evidence of in- 
crease in muscle, but increased strength here 
will be shown by greater ability to lift and 
drag, with absence of weakness or pain from 
so doing. 

How long is it needed to make a boy or 
girl in ordinary good health thoroughly strong 
through jiu-jitsu training? One school year 
will work wonders to the faithful pupil, espe- 
cially when the work is practised frequently 
out-of-school. So little time can be given to 
physical training in school that every boy and 
girl is strongly urged to practise the work at 
home every day, first selecting a fairly-matched 
mate. 

But it is not to be understood that practice 
during one school year will make the pupil 
permanently strong. The first year of practice 
but prepares the way. The work should be 
kept up at school and at home all through the 
following school years. It should be taken 
into college and practised there. Jiujitsu, in- 




Last Words to Pupils 151 



deed, should be kept up as long as life lasts. 
It will insure improved health through life — 
mental health as well as bodily. It will do a 
great deal to ward off disease. It will make 
for activity, keenness, and endurance in any 
walk of life. 

As the whole course laid down in this volume 
can be mastered thoroughly in the first school 
year in which the student takes it up there is 
this advantage when the same training is re- 
sumed in the next higher class : The student, 
having passed through the course once, does 
not need to keep to the exercises again in their 
sequence. He can skip about at will, or at 
the instructor's discretion, picking out groups 
of exercises from the various chapters, and 
exercising only in that group during the coming 
bout. 

Intelligence is needed when the graduate of 
the first year's course selects the groups of 
exercises when practising in higher classes. It 
should be the constant aim of the instructor 
to aid and develop this intelligence. In a little 
while it will be found possible to leave it to the 
competent pupil to select his own groups of 



k 



152 Physical Training for Children 

exercises for coming bouts. At the start of 
such selection, if practicable, it will be well for 
the instructor to require the pupil to select a 
group of feats, submit them to the instructor, 
and explain his reasons for the choice of 
movements. 

Little urging will be required to keep the 
boy who loves to be STRONG at the work, 
once he has discovered how quickly jiu-jitsu 
builds up the muscular strength. It will be 
harder to keep such a boy away from the work 
than to keep him at it. The instructor, or 
class teacher, should never lose sight of the 
importance of rigid questioning of pupils as to 
whether they are over-exercising. With pupils 
who show indolence in the execution of the 
work it is equally important to question 
searchingly as whether they perform any of 
the feats out of school hours, and whether they 
do so with sufficient vim. 

The preparation of this little volume has 
been long and arduous. It was undertaken 
with an earnest purpose, and no pains has been 
spared to place every essential of bodily train- 
ing of the highest and most satisfactory kind 



Last Words to Pupils 153 

between these covers. The author will feel 
that he has been of great service to his kind if 
his efforts result in making the next generation 
stronger, more cheerful, and happier than the 
present. 

THE END 



JIU-JITSU 

J^^~JitSU is the Japanese method of Physical 

Training. 
Ji^-JitSU has been practised by the Japanese 

for 2500 years. 
Jm-JitSU means " muscle breaking." 

Jiu-jitsu is easily learnt. 

J^U"J^tSU helps the weak to master the strong. 

For further information see H. Irving Hancock's 
timely book, 

Japanese Physical 
Training 

(Jiu-jitsu) 

i2mo, with 19 full-page illustrations, net $1.25 
(postage IOC.) 

The Pall Mall Gazette makes these points in its review of 
this most opportune book : 

1. "A work that every one should make a point of 

reading, 

2. "A text-book possessing much of the fascination 

of a good novel. 

3. " No one is likely to read the first chapter with- 

out becoming fired with a consuming desire 
to go right through the book." 

Send for Illustrated Circular. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK LONDON 



^ PKysical Training 
'^ for AVomen 

'^J^ according to 

Japanese MetKods 

(JiU'Jitsu) 



4 



By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

Author of "Japanese PHysical Training," etc. 

i2mo. With 32 illustrations. JVet, $1.25 
(By mail, $1.35) 

One of the phrases that should be stricken from 
the English language is " the weaker sex." In 
Japan the women are no weaker than men, and in 
this country they have no right to be. 

This is due to the fact that the Japanese women 
exercise in substantially the same way as the men, 
and devote fully as much time to the endeavor of 
gaining and maintaining strength. 

From remote antiquity, there has existed in 
Japan a system of training for the body, known 
diS Jiu-jitsu. \Jltima.te\y Jiu-jitsu is a highly 
scientific system of rapid and convincing 
attack and defense. Before the stage of 
combat is reached, however, much work 
must be devoted to acquiring a knowledge y^-I^J, 
of the nerves and muscles, such as comes ^'j^l 
from well-sustained preliminary practice. "^ 

Sead lor Illustrated Circular, 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK. LONDON 






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